


SATVIUS ACADEMY 1: The Curse Of Precognition

by ScifiRice



Series: Satvius Academy [1]
Category: Satvius Academy
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Boarding School, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Religious Themes, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-01-16 19:53:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 36,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21276788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScifiRice/pseuds/ScifiRice
Summary: A student at a religious boarding school she is attending to get an education and train the powers bestowed upon her by the gods. However, she spontaneously gains a new power and realizes it could mean her end.





	1. Prologue

There are three religious orders, each one believing they created the other. No one is able to figure out the truth, not even the gods themselves.

The Congregation, a council of innumerable deities. Each one an expert on a single aspect of life in the world. They decide collectively on how to manage the world. Through their collective minds, they perform all actions with the greatest precision. 

The followers of Sophist Diogen. A singular omnipotent god who teaches to ignore the artificial constraints of life. Use only what you need and never tolerate someone wrong thinking they are right. It is a chaotic sort of worship, but it has been proven to be done correctly and flourish.

Finally, there is The Grand Design. An impossibly ancient being who predates reality itself has put history in motion. Every action everyone takes was accounted for and will lead to whatever future it has planned out. Rarely will the Grand Designer intervene with mortal affairs. Since rarely will something not predicted get in the way.

These three pantheons have existed in a constant contest with eachother. Each religion’s deity/s believe they created the universe and the other religions. None of them are willing to accept defeat in this issue. Both the gods and their worshippers are always trying to prove their dominance.

However, under strict orders from the gods themselves. This cannot be done violently. The gods had clashed in the past, and nearly destroyed all of their followers in the process. Out of fear for mutual destruction, they decided this must be done another way.

Creating things to inconvenience the followers of the other religions such as bad weather and odd creatures. Giving followers new knowledge by imbuing someone with a genius mind and implanting ideas for something new in their head, leading to discovering electricity or proper healthcare. Creating new lands in the world for their followers to expand to, this fell out of practice when the planet started to run out of room. But one of the biggest ways they tried to outdo eachother was with their messiahs.

Beings given power beyond what a mortal should be capable of. They were there originally to protect the weaker members, guide the regular folk, and take care of problems too big for them. It started out small with one for each pantheon. Then they kept making more. More and more and more. Their messiahs had offspring with normal people. Leading to less powerful children who would pass on their blessing to their children. Soon normal people were an endangered species.

Now, nearly everyone has a blessing of some sort. Society has had to work around this newfound complication. 

Young people must learn how to cultivate their blessing. They range from mundane to destructive and everywhere in-between. Whatever someone has, there is a universal truth to these blessings. A blessing you can’t control is nothing but a hindrance. 

Special schools were formed to help people adjust to their blessing, to learn how to properly cultivate this power alongside getting a proper education. Satvius Academy is one such school, a very prestigious place held in high regard for those who worship The Grand Design. A degree from here will get you just about any job you need. Most students are honored to be there. However, there is one in particular who is thinking this school may be more trouble than it’s worth.


	2. Marwha Shinsain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet Marwha and all of the shit she has to deal with. Along with the friends she has to help her through it.

My legs are swept out from under me, I fall to the ground. He picks me up with ease and tosses me over the side of the pillar. I fall about twenty feet before I hit the water. I quickly swim to the surface of the cold pool to breathe. I look over to the side of the pool and see a salamander in maroon robes looking at me with his arms crossed and a disappointed look on his face. I swim to the edge and climb out. My fur soaking wet from the plunge.

“Marwha, you have got to improve your sparring times. You haven’t lasted more than five minutes in any match so far.” He said.

He’s right, I haven’t lasted long in any match. But that’s not entirely my fault. Sure I’m not exactly in the best shape to be fighting people. But all of my opponents so far have had blessings that make fighting easier. I do not have such a blessing.

“Listen. I understand why this sparring helps those with more physical blessings. But why am I here? Beating up people won’t help my blessing get stronger!” I said.  
“The deities of the world gave us these powers to prove their follower’s superiority over the others. It is our duty to become as strong as we can.” He said.

I hear a voice interrupt him. I look up to see someone looking over the side of the pillar I was just thrown off of. My opponent Nicolo. Someone who’s blessing helped give him a superiority complex that molded him into an asshole.

“Too bad The Grand Designer gave you a power that does jack shit in stopping me from kicking your pouty ass!” he shouts down at me.  
“FUCK YOU NICOLO!” I shout back.

I’m not in a good enough mood to put up with him. But I don’t have to deal with him anymore. My sparring match is over, that’s what matters to me. I walk on over to the women’s locker room.

I dry myself off and change into my academy uniform. A maroon colored coat of some kind. I’m not very knowledgeable in fashion so I have no idea what it’s called, but it looks like a trenchcoat with the front being more open from the waist down. Under that I have some rather plain pants and shoes. My soaked sparring uniform is little more than a pair of red shorts and a red sleeveless crop-top looking thing. I put the wet clothes in a large cart with the others where they will be cleaned and brought back to our lockers by the time my next match is due. I look in a mirror as I pass. I see a brief reflection of myself, an 18 year old fossa girl with reddish-brown fur.

Losing that fight was the last thing I had to do today. It’s three PM on a Wednesday in mid-September, I have exactly two friends in this school, and despite how awful this day has been, I know it is not the worst day I have had so far and we’re only in the second semester of my first year here. So I decide I will spend my remaining hours in this day as I please. I pull out my phone and send out a single text.

"I need something good today. Expect me over there in a few minutes."

I walk out of the locker room and into the courtyard. Satvius academy is huge, we’re the same size as the town nearby. We have over a thousand students here. The large majority of them live here as well, me included.

The whole building has heavy religious influence in its architecture. Lots of spires and stained glass, even though the various buildings have been added on over the years. The whole look stays consistent. If I were not in the situation I am in right now, I’d think it’s beautiful.

I pass by students going about their business, some reading books, some doing schoolwork, and some showing off their blessings. I keep a straight face and try to look deep in thought as I cross the courtyard and to the dormitories. There are six buildings dedicated to housing the students. Each one allegedly with some kind of team or group made to represent each collection of students. I think I heard something about them holding some yearly contest between them. I wouldn’t know, I haven’t cared enough to learn the names of any other than the one I’m in. And that was mainly just so I knew where I my bed was.

I walk inside, past a wall of posters for clubs and not even batting an eye at them. I get to the elevator and ride it to the third floor. Normally I don’t mind taking the stairs but I am not in the mood for it right now. I step out into a hall and walk down to my room. Room 31, I stare at the plaque embedded in the door for a few seconds. Then I walk to the left and look at room 30. I open the door and standing to the side of the doorway is my friend Toby.

“Hey I got your text, are you okay?” the short quokka asks.

I fall forward and land face first on a pillow Toby had prepared on the floor for me. This isn’t the first time this has happened, he knew what to do just from that single text. I tell him I have had a rough day and he sits on the floor beside me. I go on to recap my day, ending with my immediate loss to Nicolo. Losing a spar is a foreign concept to him but he understands anyway.

“I got a box of mozzarella sticks I can heat up for us to share while we play on my console. I got a second controller today!” he said with a smile.  
“Hell yeah dude.” I said while smiling for the first time today.

Toby is my best friend, we’ve known each other since we were children. Guy’s a huge dork and is so trusting he had once given a mugger some money out of his wallet when he thought they were a beggar. Toby has been what is keeping me going in this school, I can always count on him to cheer me up. Lucky bastard even has a whole dorm to himself. 

The dorm itself is rather simple. A pair of bunkbeds carved into the wall in ovular holes, a bathroom behind a door off to the side, two closets, a small kitchen area, and a couch with a coffee table. Toby has added a desk and a television with a console to play on. 

An hour later we’re finishing up a game as a plate with bread crumbs on it gets cold on the table. I really should be eating better, but comfort food is helping me get through this too. I’m at least making sure my weight stays reasonable. Getting clothes in a larger size brought here is going to be a huge pain in the ass, so I’d rather my body stay at the size it is now. We finish the game, thankfully it was cooperative so we didn’t have to worry about one of us being the loser. Toby pulls out his phone and shows me a text.

“Marwha, your brother heard about what happened and he thought you might want to see this.” He said as I look at the screen.  
“Nicolo’s next sparring match is against my brother? Oh wow, he’s screwed.” I said with a grin.  
“Should we go watch it? Should be happening tomorrow.” Toby said.  
“Absolutely.” I said.  
“I take it you’re feeling better now?” He said.  
“Better than when I walked in that’s for sure.” I said.  
“You want to play another game?” he said.  
“No, I think I’m good. I’m going to head back to my room.” I said as I stand up.  
“Good luck dealing with him.” Toby said just loud enough for anyone in the hall outside to hear.  
“I’ll need it.” I said in the same exact tone.

I put on a fake disgruntled face and walk out into the hall. Predictably there is a deer fumbling for his keys to get into room across the hall from mine. He is trying not to look at me, to him I’m some frustrated lady ready to explode on the first person to provoke me. The act is working perfectly.

I pull out a key ring from my pocket and pretend to have trouble finding the right one. Then I drop it and curse under my breath but loud enough for him to hear. I’m not even looking at him and I know he is desperate to get into his room. He finally finds the right key as I’m bending down to pick up my keys. He opens his door and practically jumps inside before shutting it as quickly as possible without slamming it. 

I enter my dorm and see my roommate sitting in a chair reading a book. Once the door is fully closed, I drop the pissed off act and he looks away from his book to stare at me. Arno Glacitus, my roommate. A guy with a coyote father and a rattlesnake mother. He looks like a normal coyote with sand colored fur, except he has a forked tongue, snake-like eyes, and his entire tail resembles that of a snake, complete with a rattle on the end. Even among the common sight of hybrids, someone like Arno is rare. We’re the same age and around the same height. Also much to our dismay, we are engaged.

“Heard Nicolo beat you up today.” He said.  
“From who? That was only an hour ago.” I ask.  
“Achal, he texted me and asked me to try and find a way to cheer you up.” He said.  
“Toby already did that.” I said.  
“I heard, and I wasn’t going to bother. But then I thought about it some more. And I realized I could help by getting back at Nicolo.” He said.  
“How did you do that?” I ask since I know he couldn’t beat Nicolo in a fight.  
“Catch.” He said as he reaches behind the chair and throws me a bag of chips.

I catch it and look at the label. It is certainly a brand I’ve never seen before. It even has “Limited edition” on it. Some kind of weird exotic flavor, what flavor it is I can’t say because what’s written on the bag is obviously slang for something. The bag is already open. I take out a chip and eat it. Some weird mix of savory and sour flavor fills my mouth. I wince at the unpleasant combo as Arno takes the bag from me and eats a couple.

“That is a flavor I’d like to forget. How is this supposed to cheer me up?” I ask.  
“Nicolo’s family sent him this from wherever he’s from. So I took it from his dorm.” Arno said with a smile.  
“Hah! Serves him right the asshole.” I said as I sit on a chair on the opposite side of the room.

Arno is a good guy, we get along well. But we don’t want anyone else to know that. Satvius academy has a rather controversial requirement for graduation. Students are paired up and are to marry at their graduation. They claim this is to create strong bonds between them and it is all according to the Grand Design that this happen. At least that’s what they tell us and the public anyway. 

Me and Arno do not like the idea of someone marrying us together. While I can see a potential relationship between us working, we want to be the ones making the choice to have one in the first place. Most of the students are stuck in situations like this, but the pairings work most of the time. Only Arno and I seem to be the ones who are trying to go against it.

Students shown to be very unfit for each other are separated and the marriage broken up. We decided to publicly seem like we cannot stand each other. Arguments and insults all thrown between us in public as often as we can do it. We can’t act straight up abusive or else one of us could get expelled. So we need to get as close to that line as we can without crossing it.

That’s why I pretended to be so angry around my neighbor. I’m putting on the persona of someone forced to live with someone she can’t stand. The both of us are being very vocal about our alleged distaste for eachother. Hopefully the plan works out in the end.

Toby is the only other one who knows about the truth. I would tell my brother Achal, but he wouldn’t take it well. Achal is valedictorian of his class and a teacher’s pet through and through. If he knew about our plans, he would report us to the school because of how seriously he takes the rules here. So for now, we have kept him in the dark on this. But that doesn’t stop him from trying to help Arno seem more appealing to me by either helping him or trying to convince me Arno is a great guy. 

He means well and I love him, but Achal is the biggest threat to our plan. Most of the students we are around believe it. But the staff are less easy to fool. I imagine we aren’t the first ones to try something like this. 

The two of us sit in our room, silently going about the rest of the day. Working on schoolwork and entertaining ourselves as much as we can. The walls for all the dorms are soundproofed so there was no need to loudly argue for the neighbors to hear. Eventually they begin serving dinner in the cafeteria, neither of us feel like heating up something from a box or cooking anything, so we both decide to head over to grab some food.

I get something lighter since I had that box of mozzarella sticks not long ago. A few strips of meat with a rather good sauce over them, and just that since it’s about all my stomach can handle right now. Arno gets a plate of fried rice that looks delectable, makes me wish I hadn’t eaten so much before so I’d have room for that. I get a glass of water with my meal since I was never much of a drinker of anything but this. Unless it’s a topping for a food, flavored liquids just don’t sit well with me. 

We sit at a vacant table, other students generally try to avoid sitting at the same table as us to avoid getting caught in any of our arguments. Since neither of our other friends are here, we have no reason to sit with anyone else. We choose seats on the opposite ends of the round table.

Soon, I’m waiting for Arno to finish his meal since I forgot my key to the dorm. I look at my glass of water. It is half empty, and not because I’m nihilist. It got to that state by emptying, so it’s half empty in my eyes. Arno is the only one who sees this question the same way I do. I sometimes wish we met under different circumstances.

I tap the glass with a finger. A light blue screen appears in the air next to the glass, with a string leading from it to the spot on the glass where I touched it. The screen reads as follows:

● A glass of water  
● Container is made mostly of silicon dioxide  
● Contains 4.5620472 ounces of fluid  
● You are the 134th person to use this container

This is my blessing. I can bring up these little info-windows for anything I touch. The screens can only be seen by me, and the information it gives can be things you would normally need special equipment for. It works on living things too. Though the information is mostly related to their physical state, but I get a few tidbits of their psychology from time to time. I want to learn how to control what I learn from these. I want to be a doctor, specifically one that specializes in diagnosing patients. Which I imagine my power would let me do incredibly well. I like being able to think about that career for a bit.

But my train of thought is broken when I see an angry Nicolo stomp up to Arno from behind. He looks at Nicolo, turns around to get a drink, and turns back towards him. Nicolo looks very angry. An average sight to anyone who inconveniences him in any way.

“Oi you hodgepodge piece of shit! Where the hell is that special bag of crisps my family sent me!?” he said while glaring at Arno.  
“Again with the hybrid insults. Aren’t you a hybrid too? Doesn’t your family have some goose in it or something?” Arno asks.  
“I’d hate to agree with him, But that would make sense with you being so aggressive.” I said while keeping a straight face.

I hear something clank at my feet. I look down and see Arno had tossed me his keys under the table. I know what he is going to do next. I pick them off the floor, diverting my gaze from Arno and the pissed off eagle reeling back for a punch. I grab the keys and look back at the scene, Arno is totally gone and Nicolo is standing there equally dumbfounded and pissed off.

“THAT CUNT! I’m going to rip his damn tail off when I find him!” Nicolo shouts as he looks around for Arno.  
“Let me know when it happens so I can watch.” I said dryly.  
“Fuck off!” he said as he stomps away.

I grab Arno’s plate and put it with the other dirty plates before heading back to my dorm. As I’m standing there in an empty hallway unlocking the door, I hear a noise beside me. I don’t even flinch as I notice Arno suddenly standing next to me. He can make himself unperceivable. He cannot be seen, heard, smelled, or even knowingly touched. If he had stayed in his seat earlier, he still would have felt the force of Nicolo’s punch, but the jerk wouldn’t have even realized he hit anything at all. However, he can only enter this state when no one is observing him knowingly. All it took was for me to look away and for Nicolo to blink, then he was gone.

“Sup.” He said.  
“You have got to stop with this whole kleptomaniac thing.” I said.  
“I’m getting better. Now I only steal from jerks.” He said.  
“Yeah, I noticed.” I said as I unlock the door.


	3. The Impact by the Canal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marwha is pulled from class for the day to help with an incident the staff of the academy can't handle on their own.

This is a treat I needed. We’re sitting in a booth watching the sparring matches. Nicolo had gotten a bit too confident and wanted to fight someone out of his league. That someone is my older brother Achal. I’m sitting with Toby, Arno, and Achal’s fiancé Dacia. She’s a mongoose and I honestly quite like her, she’s a good match for Achal.

Nicolo and Achal are standing on top of the central pillar. The four surrounding pillars have stopped their sparring to watch as well. Achal is a bit larger than Nicolo, but not by much. Achal looks a lot like me, save for a lighter brown patch of fur on his head and the tip of his tail, but I should get one too when I get older. The Sparring instructor begins the match.

“Do you know what my blessing is?” Achal asks.  
“Yes.” Nicolo said as he gets in a fighting stance.  
“Then you know how strong I am.” Achal said.  
“I can handle it.” Nicolo said.  
“I doubt it.” Achal said.

Nicolo’s body suddenly gets beefier. Nicolo can bring aspects of his body to their physical peak. Stronger muscles for strength, tougher bones for defense, enhanced senses, etc. As much as I hate the guy, his blessing is damn good.

He charges towards Achal, but he jumps over Nicolo’s head and taps him on his arm as he does it. Nicolo turns around to see himself standing there. He was briefly taken aback by this sight as anyone would.

Achal can transform into anyone he perceives that he is fighting, so long as he has touched them. He gains their physical strengths and their form. However Achal’s new form also looks rather beefy just like Nicolo.

“What the…. You can’t copy blessings! How do you have my muscles!?” Nicolo asked.  
“I get my opponent’s physical form. Your blessing changes your physical form.” Achal said in Nicolo’s voice.

Nicolo grunted and charged at him again. Achal grabs hold of him and shoves him to the side. Nicolo’s own momentum sending him over the edge and into the water. That’s the fastest he has ever lost. Achal turns back into his normal self as I’m grinning at this brief but satisfying entertainment. 

Then we all hear a noise. A muffled explosion, sounds like it came from outside the school. We all look towards the direction we heard it from. The loudspeakers beep to signal that they are turning on. I hear the voice of one of the Deacons, the ones who run this school.

“Don’t be alarmed. That noise originated off-campus. Go on with your day.” A voice said before the speakers across the whole school powered back down.

Well that was odd, but if it’s not at the school then it isn’t my problem. I look over the edge of the booth to see a soggy Nicolo climbing out of the water. He looks up at me. I flip him off. Achal walks across the bridge connecting the pillars to the walls and meets us in the room behind the booth. Dacia hugs him and he looks at me and Arno. 

“Glad to see you two in the same room without making a scene.” Achal said.  
“I came to see Nicolo get his ass handed to him. That’s really it.” Arno said.  
“Can’t enjoy that scene if we’re arguing.” I said.  
“You think he’ll be mad at you after this?” Toby asks me.  
“Who, Nicolo? Nah, he won’t be mad at me because Achal beat him. Guy’s an asshole but he doesn’t attack people through proxies.” I said.  
“Well, I got a class starting soon so I should get going.” Arno said.

I turn to look at him but he has already vanished. Arno’s classes are the same as mine. Partnered students are almost always on the same schedule. So since he is leaving, I should too.

“Marwha, I really wish you would give him a chance.” Achal said.  
“I’ve given him plenty.” I said before leaving.

Class here is typical college stuff. But with a huge dosage of religious influence mixed into it. Not anything I’m not used to though. A large portion of my family has gone to school here and most of the other schools I have gone to in the past are also as religious. Though I did go to one of those atheistic schools once.

They believed you should get a basic education and develop your morals before you decide which religion to follow if any. Personally I was never very religious, but the gods certainly exist and I was raised in a community that worshipped the Grand Design. So that’s what I consider myself when someone asks.

I’m in the classroom with thirty other students. But I’m sitting right next to Arno (Damn you assigned seating) since we both are actually trying to pass this class, we tone down the aggressing between us in classes. But we try to still make an effort however we can. Right now we are in our zoology class, and we are currently learning about the various creatures in this world of gods trying to outdo eachother. The professor is a Ram. He is standing at the front of the class with a long stick as a projector is booting up to begin this lesson.

“Class, today I am going to tell you about the most dangerous creature in our world. The Grey Elder.” He said as the projector showed us the image of the creature we had all heard about since we were children.

It only showed its face, as anything more is outlawed by all religions. The image itself was a sketch, as a photograph of the real thing is said to be immensely cursed. It had wrinkled reddish-grey skin and not a single hair on its body. Its eyes are hollow and blacked out. Its face was elongated with four strange mandible-like covers over what I assume is its mouth. Just looking at it unnerved me.

“The Grey Elder is the only being opposed by all three pantheons. Wherever it goes, it brings misfortune upon anyone it finds. Be they good or evil. All three pantheons claim this creature had existed before they had made any beings of their own such as us. It is not the symbol of evil, but rather an agent of it. All citizens of the world are instructed to report any sightings of it to their closest religious official regardless of either party’s religious affiliations.” The professor explains.

I’m taking notes on what he said. Normally I make a small sketch of the creature to help me remember, but this thing is an exception. He goes on in detail about it, describing what the whole thing looks like. About an hour passes and we’re still discussing this thing. Then again, anything to be classified as bad by all three pantheons probably warranted this much time. This thing is responsible for a lot of disasters.

We’re going over this one traincrash it caused twenty years ago when someone walks into the room. One of the staff who works at the academy, an anole lizard wearing a weird robe with so many pockets on it the thing looks like it was crossbred with a pair of cargo shorts. He walks over to the professor and briefly speaks to him. Then they both look at me.

“Marwha Shinsain, please come with me. And no you are not in trouble.” The lizard said.  
“Do I need to bring my stuff?” I ask as I look at my backpack on the floor beside my seat.  
“No, Arno can bring your things to your dorm if you’re not back in time.” The professor said.  
“Don’t lose any of my shit.” I said to Arno with a tinge of hostility, he simply grunts in acknowledgement.

I’m led out of the classroom and over to the courtyard. We take a immediate turn and walk around the back of the building. I ask him why I’m being brought out of class. He explains himself as we walk around the outside towards the back of the school.

“I assume you heard that explosion not long ago.” He said.  
“Yeah, I assumed it was a gas leak from town or something.” I said.  
“A meteorite crashed just outside of campus. I assume you’ve heard the stories about them?” He asks.  
“You mean how sometimes when one lands, it’s full of unstable stuff that explodes the moment someone tries to move it?” I ask.  
“Exactly, a cruel trick inflicted on the worlds by The Congregation. The mayor has no-one capable of determining if it’s dangerous or not, and you are currently the only person in the school capable of doing it safely.” He said.  
“Hold on. You want me to touch this space rock and figure out if it’s a bomb or not!?” I said.  
“A slight touch shouldn’t set it off. The deacons aren’t happy about leaving this to a student, but this situation needs to be taken care of before someone gets hurt. All you have to do is analyze it and tell us if it is going to explode or not. We’ll handle it from there.” He said.

Behind the school is a series of canals made for scenery and for giving the school a steady supply of water. They also hold the weddings back here, since the freshwater canals make for a good venue I guess. I see a small plume of smoke rising out of the ground beside a tree slightly scorched on one side. We walk closer and I can finally see the smoldering crater.

The meteorite itself is the size of a beach-ball. I stand on the edge of the crater, my chaperone hides behind the tree. The crater is right on the edge of a steep slope leading down into the canal. I decide to stand on this edge so if it is about to explode I’ll have a chance of surviving if I dive into the water. 

I nervously reach forward and gently touch the side of the meteorite. A window pops up and I immediately see the words “Non-explosive” in big letters at the very top. I let out a huge sigh and tell him it isn’t dangerous. He asks me what else I can analyze from it, there is the chance of it having toxic material inside as well. I read off the list of ingredients, scrolling through the window’s information. Pretty standard stuff, I think it may be a regular meteorite with no godly modifying. But then I get to the bottom of the list.

Something reaches up from the bottom. Pushing the info away like someone opening a window. I see the face of something inside of it. All the skin between the bottom of the eyes and the neck is gone and instead it has what looks like a beard made out of flayed fleshy strands. The entire thing is a sickly grey and covered in cracks in its skin. It stares into my soul with pitch black eyes as it crawls out of my window and reaches towards me.

Then something happens, my vision freezes. All I see is the still image of this monster reaching towards me, not even closing my eyes makes it go away. I feel dizzy and weak, I feel myself stumbling around but my vision stays the same. My senses become muffled, I can’t feel the heat from the crater or the shouts of the lizard asking me what is happening. I try to say something but my voice fails me and all I can do is make a strained exhale. 

I feel myself fall down and tumble. Then everything gets cold and I can’t breathe. I must have fell in the canal. I’m trying to swim, kick, or at the very least close my mouth to stop water from filling my lungs. But my body becomes number every second. Soon my vision is getting darker, the image burned into my eyes slowly fading into black. Either I’m blacking out, or I’m dying. And I can’t do a thing about it but be afraid.

My eyes shoot open as I take the deepest breath I have ever attempted in my life. The image of that thing is gone, but now my vision is utterly filled with my information windows. Telling me things about everything I’m touching, even the individual particles in my breath. I close my eyes and perform my mental trick I learned to manually get rid of any windows. With my vision cleared I’m greeted by the sight of Achal sitting beside me looking the most worried I have ever seen him be.

I look around, I’m in the academy’s infirmary. I can feel that I’m only in my underwear under the sheets of this bed I’m lying in. There is an oxygen mask on me. Achal gives me a hug only briefly before the nurse tells him to back away.

“Marwha! I thought you were going to die! I was so worried!” Achal said, clearly distressed but relieved that I’m alive.  
“What happened? ugh, I don’t feel good.” I said as I realize I still feel incredibly dizzy and weak.  
“You nearly drowned. According to the staff member with you. You appeared to black out and tumble into the canal. He dove in to save you and got help.” The nurse said as she removes my oxygen mask and confirms I can breathe fine now.  
“He claims maybe the impact from the meteorite was giving off gasses that made you pass out.” Achal said.  
“What time is it?” I ask.  
“It’s 6PM, you were out cold for hours.” The nurse said.  
“I’m just so glad you’re okay. Mom and Dad have been freaking out about this, I need to text them and let them know you’re okay.” Achal said as he gets out his phone.

The nurse does a quick check to make sure I’m okay. I feel a bit weak and dizzy, but she claims it will clear up quickly. I’m also hungry since I haven’t eaten for most of the day. Achal messages Arno to pick me up something from the cafeteria. 

The nurse says I’m good to return to my dorm. But I’m too weak to the point where walking all across campus would be too much for me. So Achal volunteers to wheelchair me over. I don’t really have any complaints. 

Unfortunately my clothes were soaked and sent to be cleaned. Achal takes off his uniform’s coat and gives it to me so I am wearing something that decently covers me up. I sit in the chair and Achal begins to wheel me out. But standing in the entrance of the infirmary is one of the deacons. 

I can’t see his face as it is covered up by the opulent hooded robe he is wearing. All I see are deer like antlers poking out from the hood. I have never seen a deacon before and there are seven of them here. This one has a different voice than the one I heard over the loudspeaker.

“I trust you are feeling well?” he said.  
“I’m not dead. So yeah.” I said.  
“Is there something you need deacon sir?” Achal said.  
“No, just making sure Marwha here is alright. A student dying while on a sudden excursion with a staff member off campus is a terrible news story plenty of other religions would love to twist up. I’m glad we avoided such a fiasco.” He said.  
“Well that’s good to hear.” Achal said.  
“We’ll have that meteorite handle properly now that we know it’s not volatile. We have you to thank for that Marwha. I only wish it could have ended on a better note.” He said.  
“Me too.” I said.

The Deacon steps aside as I’m wheeled out. The image of the creature is all I can think about as Achal talks about how worried he and our family was. Something came out of a window I made. The only thing I have ever seen in those was just text. The guy with me didn’t mention it at all according to what Achal said, so I guess I was only able to see it. That thing made my body useless just by looking at me. I’ve never encountered one of the supernatural monsters made by the gods before, but I bet that’s one of them.

So was its goal to try and kill me by making me drown? These things don’t act without purpose, that’s a universal rule among them. The analysis I did on the meteorite didn’t show anything atypical of a random space rock. It would have told me a monster was hiding inside of it.

“Marwha, did you hear me?” Achal asks, snapping me out of my thoughts.  
“I’m sorry, say it again?” I ask.  
“Dad is asking me to call him, I know he’ll want to talk to you. Do you feel alright with that? We can wait until you’ve recovered more.” Achal asks.  
“I’d rather not. I just want to eat and lay down.” I said.  
“Alright. You have classes off tomorrow, the Deacons ordered it.” Achal said.  
“I don’t mind a free three-day weekend one bit.” I said.

We arrive at my Dorm. Achal gets my key out from his pocket. He has all of the personal items I had on me when I was rescued. The door opens and I stand up, I can walk fine but I do not have a lot of energy and my balance is a bit off. Achal put’s my personal things on a table as I change into my pajamas. A big and soft purple t-shirt and some equally soft grey shorts. 

Achal makes sure I’m all set before going to return the wheelchair. He pulls out his phone and calls our dad as he leaves. Arno walks in a minute later carrying a foam container with my dinner in it. I quickly take it from his hands and open it up to see a large helping of the fried rice like Arno had the night before. I immediately dig in as Arno changes into his pajamas as well.

“Feeling okay?” He asks once he finishes.  
“By the Grand Design I needed this….” I said in-between bites.  
“I saw how you were looking at it last night and figured you would appreciate it.” Arno said.  
“And to answer your question, I’m not dead so I’m doing as well as I can be after such an ordeal.” I said after swallowing a large bite of rice.  
“I’m glad to see you’re alive. Even though you dying would have solved our marriage problem.” Arno said.  
“For you maybe. But we’re not that desperate yet.” I said.

We both chuckle at the joke. He offers to play with me on the console, likely to get my mind off of nearly dying. I take him up on the offer but all while it happens, my mind is racing. Not about the drowning, as terrifying as that event was. But about the creature I saw. I didn’t notice it before, but I feel different after seeing it.

My mind feels more alert, like all my senses have been clogged up this entire time and now the pipes are clear. I woke up with my vision totally obscured by tons of windows. I’ve never been able to open that many before. Not to mention it was picking up on dust particles, I haven’t been able to use my blessing on something so small before.

I need to talk about this to someone. But I'm getting a nagging feeling in the back of my brain that something is wrong. That I shouldn’t talk about this at school. I’ll wait until Arno and Toby are out of class, then I’ll bring them into town and talk there. That should be safe. I hope so at least….


	4. A Banjo During the Blood Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marwha goes into town with her friends to discuss what she saw yesterday.

Satvius academy is located on a small peninsula, the academy owns most of it. Right outside of campus is the city of Crocus. A city that mainly focuses on the construction and repairing of boats. As such, the waters are often busy with fishermen and shipwrights testing out their work. The main reason most people come here is for the academy. Which is only here because this peninsula is allegedly some kind of sacred ground. For what, I have no idea.

Near the shipyards is a rather famous boardwalk. The ocean with the academy in view is a popular spot for photographers and filmmakers. I think the library at the academy intentionally has a copy of every film that has a scene on that boardwalk, regardless of how good the films are. 

It is Friday night. I’ve been sitting in my dorm recovering from my near-drowning. But now I suddenly have energy again, so I decided to go into town. I want to talk to Toby and Arno. So I asked Toby to come with me and for Arno to come over with his friend so it doesn’t look like me and Arno made plans to go out somewhere. Our act doesn’t stop off campus either.

We step onto the boardwalk, still in our school uniforms since we need them to get to where we are going. The boardwalk is lined with small shops and vendors selling all manner of trinkets and comfort food. Directly in front of us is a large rectangular space looking over the ocean that is devoid of any vendors at all. Taking up most of the center is a strange sculpture, it looks like a small rollercoaster with random sections of the track missing. I have no idea what it means.

We turn down a section of the boardwalk that’s an alley lined with more shops. At the end is our destination, a sort of club made specifically for students of the academy. The bouncer sees our uniforms and lets us inside without issue. The inside is packed with other students, all of varying classes. Most of which are gathered around the bar. The inside has lights tinted ever so slightly with red, a color the school is very fond of. The sound of thirty conversations going on at once makes it rather hard to hear in here, it’s what I’m counting on. Toby points to a secluded booth in the corner. I go sit down while Toby goes to get us some drinks. As I sit there trying to work out what I’m going to say, I’m greeted by an unwelcome visitor.

“Good to see you’re coming here to unwind after a hard day of doing nothing.” Nicolo said.  
“Do you not have better things to do other than bother me? There are plenty of other students here prime for pestering. What about that one over there?” I said as I point to an egret who just spilled her drink all over herself.  
“I’m fond of whoever catches my eye first. And you just happen to be one of them.” Nicolo said.  
“I’m sorry, I know you’re probably trying to make it sound like you do it at random. But you sound like you have a crush on me.” I said.  
“In your dreams. The only one I'm getting with is Lalia!” He said.  
“And where is your fiancé?” I ask.  
“None of your business. But I need an easy win after that last sparring match. So I think I’ll go after you….” Nicolo said before suddenly stopping with a strained look on his face.  
“Can you hold off on this for one day? She nearly died, give her a break.” Toby said as he walks over with two drinks in his hands.  
“FINE! Just stop it!” Nicolo said as he looks like he’s trying not to crap his pants.  
“It was fun seeing you fall down yesterday. I kind of want to see it again.” Toby said.  
“You know you’ll get in trouble of you do!” Nicolo said.  
“Get out of here.” Toby said.

Nicolo suddenly moves again and glares at Toby before walking away. Despite being such a dork, no one messes with Toby. His blessing allows him to control gravity in a twenty foot radius around him. It’s not a very fine amount of control, but enough where he hasn’t lost a spar against anyone yet.

He sets down his drink, a full 8 ounce glass of whiskey. He claims to not be much of a drinker, but apparently his alcohol tolerance is so high that whole glass is light for him. Meanwhile I simply have a glass of water. Once again, not a fan of drinking anything but water. Achal was thinking I would try it once I turned 18, but no. I have no desire to try it and likely never will.

Arno soon walks over with Kassadia, she is to him what Toby is to me. She’s an aardwolf with her fur colored like a panda’s due to being a hybrid like Arno. You have a 15% chance of getting someone like her when two hybrids have a kid, and a 5% chance of getting someone like Arno. The other 80% will result in someone indistinguishable from whatever species they are supposed to be, at least on a physical level.

They sit in the booth with us, Kassadia sits next to me while Arno goes next to Toby in the booth across from me. Kassadia is already carrying a drink for her and Arno. I don’t talk to her often since she is more Arno’s friend than mine, but she’s a good person to be around. Once we all get settled, Arno asks the question everyone is thinking.

“Why did you gather us here Marwha?” He said.  
“I need to tell you all something, and I don’t feel comfortable doing it in the school.” I said.  
“Is it about your drowning?” Toby said.  
“Sort of. You know that meteorite the school wanted me to analyze?” I said.  
“Yeah, I heard they sold it to a metalworking place in town.” Arno said.  
“When I used my blessing on it…. Something came out of it, but through the information window I made.” I said, looking around to make sure no one is listening.  
“What do you mean?” Toby said.  
“This thing crawled out of my window and did something to my body, made me numb and weak. That’s why I fell into the canal. And ever since then, my brain feels like it’s on fire.” I said.  
“What do you mean on fire?” Arno said.  
“That! I had a dream of you asking that in that exact way in this exact place. I had that dream last night. I’ve been having déjà vu all day. Way more than someone should.” I said.  
“And you think this creature you saw is responsible?” Kassadia said.  
“Maybe. I’ve been having this feeling of discomfort ever since it happened. I thought it was just shock from drowning, but it feels more like knowing you’re being hunted.” I said.  
“That sounds…. Unsettling.” Arno said.  
“It gets worse! I took a nap earlier today. When I woke up, I heard something above me. It was breathing, I could feel its breath on my skin. When I opened my eyes the sensation vanished.” I said.  
“That is incredibly creepy. You should report this to someone!” Kassadia said.  
“I want to. But for the life of me I can’t think of a way to describe it or prove what’s happening is real. They’ll probably pass it off as trauma from yesterday or something.” I said.  
“Well maybe it is, you were very stressed going in. Maybe you hallucinated the whole thing.” Arno said.  
“I thought that too. But look at this.” I said as I undo the buttons on my coat.

I lift up my shirt and show a scar running across my chest in a perfect square. I woke up with that this morning. It didn’t hurt, I didn’t have it before. It’s too perfect to have been done myself. Whatever this thing is, it is real and it can hurt me. 

“That is very concerning.” Arno said.  
“I even woke up wearing a completely different shirt than what I fell asleep in.” I said.  
“Is that bad?” Arno said.  
“I don’t know, but it’s weird and it shouldn’t be happening!” I said.  
“Point taken.” Arno said.  
“Not a word of this to anyone for now. Especially my brother. I want to find out what I’m dealing with before we report this.” I said.  
“If you need help, let us know.” Toby said.  
“Thank you. I’m glad to hear that.” I said.

We make idle conversation for the remainder of the evening. Eventually Kassadia takes her drinking a bit too far and we decide to head out. Toby uses his blessing to make Kassadia weightless and drags her back to the school. He made sure to text her roommate Connor to expect them soon. I pass by the weird sculpture and decide to look out over the sea for a bit, I say I’ll catch up with them later.

I walk up to the wooden railing and lean on it as I look over the sea. The water is filled with various boats all making light of their own. The sky has what little stars can show through the light pollution of the boardwalk and the town. The moon hangs in the sky, its red surface giving the moonlight its signature blood-tinted shine. 

How did I end up like this? Slogging through the beginning of four years of study in a school doing things to me I can’t stand, yet I would be a fool not to go here. A degree from this academy will all but guarantee me a career wherever I wanted. I only got in because most of my family went here and they have some kind of system that makes it easier for family of students to get in. How could I not know about the whole arranged marriage thing? I asked my parents how they met, they met at Satvius Academy. But they didn’t explain that being together wasn’t their choice? Yes they were great together and still are to this day, but didn’t that aspect of it all bother them? Am I just being weird about this? Arno is the only other person who seems to mind. Am I just being selfish? Is it selfish to not want to be with someone who is probably your soulmate just because you yourself couldn’t make that initial choice?

Being hostile towards him all the time is exhausting. So is taking his hostility. Even though it’s all fake, a gun loaded with blanks can still hurt. I wish I could just stop all of this, but this marriage bothers me on such a deep level. I feel like I have to do something, anything at all but just accept it. 

But everyone aside from the staff at the academy believes our act. What do I have to do to prove it to them without going over the line and doing something to get me expelled? Do I need to cheat on him with someone else? Finding someone would be hard, and the only one I even know I could is Toby since he has no partner. But we can’t do that, Toby and I work only as friends and we both know that. 

Arno and I can’t just get a divorce after graduation either, the academy can revoke our degrees if such a thing happens. Unless we have a kid first, and I’m not giving birth just to get out of a marriage I didn’t want. Our only shot is to get separated and stay separated until we graduate. I mean we can basically get married and be swingers or whatever you call them, but that is something I know my family will complain about the entire time. Then me and Arno would have something in common in that regard. And his dad is from a family that firmly believes in Sophist Diogen, they disowned his dad for some disagreement they had in the past. They were not happy at all when they heard Arno was going to Satvius, but they aren’t exactly in a position to complain anymore.

Sometimes I wish I was Toby. A powerful blessing that scares off most people who want to mess with you and not being forced to marry anyone. Though in his case, they said they cannot find someone who is a good match for Toby. I’ll admit his personality and mannerisms are a bit out there, I can see why finding a good match for him is hard.

Suddenly I’m brought back to reality by a sound. The sound of a banjo being played, calmly but with purpose. A song a traveler would play around a campfire when alone at night with no one else around. Playing for themselves and no one else. 

I turn around to see a Lyrebird sitting on the ground against the wall surrounding the sculpture. He is playing a banjo, looking intently down at his instrument as he plays in the red moonlight. there isn't anyone else listening to him. His song seems familiar somehow. He takes notice of my staring and looks up.

“You like the tune?” he said as he continues playing without missing a beat.  
“I’m sorry, yeah I do. But that song sounds very familiar, what is it called?” I said.  
“Can’t say that, it’s a family secret. But judging by your uniform, you probably heard it from Passeri back in the academy.” He said.  
“Oh yeah, he’s that nightingale guy always carrying around a banjo. I’m in a few of his classes. Has some kind of sound related blessing if I remember correctly. He your son or something?” I said.  
“Not my son, but I am a relative. I saw you were feeling conflicted, how do you feel now?” He said.  
“I feel…. Calmer. Did you do that?” I said.  
“Nah, the music did that. Should calm your nerves for a while.” He said.  
“Well…. Thank you. I should get going, it’s getting late.” I said.  
“You go enjoy a nice bed. I’ll sit here and enjoy the moonlight.” He said.

I walk away and his song grows a bit quieter with each step I take. I do feel calmer, was it the song or a blessing he had? No matter. I got what I needed to say to my friends off my chest, and once I have more information on what’s messing with me, I’ll take care of it once and for all. The long walk back to the academy is made enjoyable with the memory of that song in my head.


	5. Chronologically Confused

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marwha's blessing evolves in an odd way and leads to a terrifying vision.

It’s Monday. I’ve been assigned a sparring match. But thankfully Nicolo isn’t my opponent. He is barred from facing me for at least a month so he can’t use my defeats to boost his score. Good for me at least.

My opponent is Misha, a fox in a different class than me whose blessing lets him swim through air like a dolphin. At least that’s the easiest way I can describe it. But he is a good deal smaller than me, I may actually have a chance at winning this. However, no one wins until the opponent touches the water. Considering how high up we are and what his blessing lets him do, I don’t know how good of a chance I have.

Thankfully my top covers up the scar on my chest. Before the fight starts, he walks into the center. Misha extends his hand, silently offering me to shake it. I accept his offer and shake it firmly. He wishes me good luck in this fight.

We both step back to our spots near the edge and the fight begins. He leaps towards me, he grabs my arms to try and push me off the side. But he isn’t strong enough to push me off when I’m fighting back. I push back against him as I see him kicking his legs in the air, each kick pushing him forward. I push on him from below and shove him over my head. He flies over the side but I see him swimming through the air to redirect his fall and get back up here.

Suddenly, time seems to slow down. I can see him, he is going to fly up to my right side and tackle me. Time resumes and I spend a split second contemplating what I saw before clenching my left fist and twisting my body to give it some extra force. My punch connects with his head and he tumbles down into the water. He was unable to concentrate after the blow and couldn’t swim back up.

I won, I actually won a match!? What the hell was that I just saw? I look down and see Misha climbing out of the pool clutching his head. The Sparring Instructor congratulates me on my first win. Someone on one of the other pillars claps for me.

I walk across the bridge to where the instructor is and he congratulates me again. She hopes to see more from me in the future. I’m dumbfounded but I manage to fake knowing what is going on. I head down to the locker room to get changed.

I never liked sparring. I never really fight back at all unless my opponent is visually weaker than me and that’s mostly because I have to try sometimes in order to keep my grades for this activity up. I wasn’t even fighting seriously, I just wanted the match to be over. So how did I so easily take him out? How did I know what he was going to do?

This is all very confusing. I get dressed and contemplate this until my next class starts. History class today, I sit down next to Arno. We don’t speak or make eye contact as per usual. The professor begins to talk about The Three Messiahs.

They were the original members of each pantheon’s followers that were gifted blessings. They had become beings second only to the gods themselves, their job was to guide and protect their followers after the god’s war against eachother nearly destroyed the planet. There are a few powers that were not given to mortals as blessings, one of which was immortality. The Three Messiahs were rumored to be the only ones granted it. Even today we don’t know what happened to them, they just faded away from history.

“Today class, we will learn about The Three Messiahs….” The raccoon leading the class begins to say.

Wait, I just heard all of this! He is saying exactly what I heard him say a minute ago! I look around, no one is acting like anything is weird. I look at the clock, class just started despite me having just sat through ten minutes of a lecture. I sit in my chair totally confused. I look down at my notebook, blank but I know I took notes on this just now. I lean over to Arno in desperation.

“Didn’t he already go over this?” I said.  
“No, what makes you think that?” he said.

I lean away without saying a word. I tap my notebook and bring up an Information window. Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me. I read the information in the window as the professor rambles on. But something at the bottom appears that I have never seen before.

“Time until the notebook is filled up: 73:08:32”

I close the window and bring up a window for my pencil. It tells me how long I have until it totally decomposes. I touch the desk, it says it will be replaced in three years. I gently touch a loose part of Arno’s clothes, just enough where he won’t notice I touched him at all. The window says he will get food poisoning from tonight’s dinner. My blessing gives me plenty of in depth information. But it shouldn’t predict the future like that!

People’s blessings can evolve overtime, that’s a fact. But a natural evolution for mine would probably have been something like being able to choose what information I can bring up, or making a window appear just from looking at something instead of making contact. But predicting the future is one hell of a jump! I mean, it’s not entirely impossible with my power. But this is something I should be getting through intense training in my 50’s or something. Not right now with no effort when I’m 18!

I manage to calm myself down enough to get through class. Throughout the rest of the day I experience these flashes of the future. I feel like a dementia patient stumbling around trying to distinguish what is real or what actually happened or not. Arno notices my distress but can’t help me due to our façade. Our final class of the day ends and we both walk back to our dorm.

“Marwha, you feeling okay? You haven’t looked good for most of the day.” Arno asks when we are alone in a hallway together.  
“No, I’m not okay. Mentally anyway. My brain is doing this weird thing….” I said before stopping as I once again get an overwhelming sense of dread from talking about this further.  
“What’s wrong?” He said.  
“Um…. Let me put it like this…. You know how it was when your blessing first appeared?” I said.  
“Oh shit, that was the worst. I was wandering around my house at five years old screaming about why no one was noticing me. My parents nearly called the police when they couldn’t find me despite that I was calling for them at their side the entire time.” Arno said.  
“Yeah! Weird stuff is happening and you don’t know why.” I said.  
“Is something new happening with your windows?” He said.  
“Sort of. I don’t really want to talk about it right now. I just feel that now isn’t the time to discuss it.” I said.  
“Alright then. I was just asking is all. I won’t press any further.” Arno said.

Hours later, after all of our schoolwork is done. We head over to the cafeteria for dinner. I remember the prediction my window made for Arno earlier today. I ask him what he plans to get, he says he is going to get some kind of pasta dish but he doesn’t know which one yet. I begin to think of some excuse to tell him. I don’t want him to get food poisoning since we share the same bathroom.

I tell him that Toby texted me earlier, saying something in the pasta made the partner to a project he is working on for a class sick. Arno pouts and decides to get something else. Hopefully this prediction I made is true and we avoid him living in the bathroom for a while. And besides, pasta is a near useless food anyway.

As we eat, I think about this new ability. Anyone in the school who develops a new power is required to inform the school about it. If I tell them, I’ll likely have my schedule shifted a bit to better accommodate my new ability. I’d probably have to work on training both then. Precognition is a pretty rare ability, I’d probably get a special instructor to help me hone it. Honestly, it is entirely within my best interest to tell the school. So why does the thought of it fill me with overwhelming dread?

For the rest of the night I try to think of why that would be. I can’t find any reason. Is this just an anxiety thing? I can’t see a possible downside to letting them know. I’d rather not go through the rest of the year having days like this.

I’m lying in bed, staring at the bottom of Arno’s bunk. Trying to calm myself down so I can go to sleep. But my mind is racing, trying to figure out this mystery. But suddenly, I’m somewhere else.

I’m in a place I don’t recognize. It looks like the inside of a church. Rows of pews line the wall as they are filled with numerous people all wearing identical masks and hooded robes. I hear singing and music from the bells and organs. But the only thing I’m feeling is pure terror.

Two masked people have a firm grip on my arms, they are forcing me to walk towards the altar. Standing by the altar is another masked person with tall horns poking out from their hood. I struggle and try to stop myself from advancing towards the altar, but my captors are too strong.

“Young lady, why do you struggle? Do you not hear the songs we are singing for you? We are here to celebrate you, Marwha Shinsain! The answer to our problems!” the one at the altar says as I am brought before the steps leading up to it.

My heart is pounding, I’m looking around desperately for anything to help me escape. The masked guy by the altar goes to the wall behind it and pulls a hidden switch. The wall opens and a heavy door similar to a bank vault. The two restraining me begin forcing me up the stairs.

“You are one of the lucky few gifted with precognition! With your help, we can understand the Grand Design of our true creators better than anyone else!” he says as he pulls the door all the way open.

My heart skips a beat at what I see inside. A machine embedded inside a small room with a large polyhedron-looking helmet hanging from the ceiling by a tangle of wires. And secured inside the machine, is the skeletal remains of someone wearing a student uniform.

“We’ve gone a whole generation without a replacement for our last seer. But now the time has finally come! When the time is right, generations will remember your name as they will his. And when your time is up. You shall join him in our most sacred burial ground!” he says as he pulls the lifeless bones from the machine. “You shall be hailed as a saint! You will give us the vision we need to shape history in the right direction! So I implore you! Take your rightful place in the machine and lead us into an age of prosperity!”

I’m forced over to the machine. I’m sweating and my heart is pounding faster than I had ever felt before. The guy has trouble getting the machine open and asks for one of the ones restraining me to help. I’m handed to the other one, who holds my arms tight behind my back.

But he’s too weak to hold me alone. I wrestle free of his grip and make a mad dash out of the room. I jump down the stairs to the altar and begin a sprint. Only I’m immediately overcome with a sudden pain coursing through my body and i fall to the ground while convulsing, I manage to glance at the leader having electricity spark from his hooved hands.

Someone grabs my legs and drags me back towards the altar. I scream and claw at the floor hoping to get a grip. I plead and beg as tears stream down my face. But they don’t listen. They force me over to the machine and secure me inside. I can’t move at all save for my head. The helmet is lowered down over me, it covers my eyes and I can’t see a thing. I hear it begin to power on as the door begins to close.

I snap out of the vision. I’m lying in my bed, staring at the top of the small space it resides in. my heart is pounding and I’m terrified. That’s what will happen if I tell people about this new power!? What was any of that!?

Whatever it was, I will not let it happen to me. I need to find out what that vision meant. I can’t go through this school if I’m worried for my life the entire time! And what about the future students, they’ll be subjected to that too if they have precognition! I’ll tell only people I can trust, hopefully they will believe me.

I have to tell Arno and Toby. I need to get them away from the school again and tell them what I saw. My chest is pounding as the memories of what I saw continue to haunt me. I don’t get any sleep that night.  



	6. A Day Without Rest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shaken by her vision last night, Marwha attempts to confide in her friends and figure out what to do with this new information.

I’m sitting out by the canal, just a few feet away from where I nearly drowned. The crater has been filled up with dirt and the meteorite has long been removed. I look around once more, no one in sight. I checked the tree too, can’t be too sure. Toby soon walks over and sits beside me. I had texted him to meet me here. He notices my exhausted and terrified state and asks what is wrong. I tell him everything, the new powers I have and the horrible vision I saw.

“Are you sure that wasn’t just a nightmare? You were lying in bed when it happened.” Toby said.  
“If it was a nightmare I would have been soaked in sweat or shifted around in my sleep. But only a minute had passed when I came to my senses and I was still dry and in the same position. It couldn’t have been a nightmare.” I said.  
“Well that is…. Deeply disturbing. You’re sure that vision happened here at the academy?” Toby said.  
“It happened at the school. It was just something I knew when it happened.” I said.  
“Okay, but where? I don’t think I’ve seen a place like what you described.” Toby said.  
“It has to be in the restricted wings of the academy. The places students aren’t allowed to be.” I said.  
“Okay…. So what are we going to do?” He said.  
“If I understood their intent. They want to use me to know the future so they can shape history in their favor. I’m pretty sure doing that is heresy in the eyes of The Grand Design. If I can find out where that place in the vision is and who is part of that group. We could report them to the higher ups in The Grand Design.” I said.  
“Do you think that would work?” He said.  
“What else can we do? They’re the only ones with any kind of authority over the academy that we know of.” I said.  
“So what should I do?” I ask.  
“Find a way to tell Arno, make sure it’s outside of school. These powers are making me suspect they are monitoring us much more than we think.” I said.  
“What will you do?” he said.  
“I need to keep this new power hidden and under control. On top of dealing with that thing from the meteorite…. Oh god….” I said as my eyes widen.  
“What?” Toby said.  
“Do you see it? It’s standing on top of the hill across the canal!” I said as I point to the creature.

The monster is seven feet tall. Its body is just as disheveled and pale as its head. It has no lower body, instead it’s spine and dried entrails hang out from its torso as it uses two muscular arms to stand up. It turns around and runs behind the hill.

“I didn’t see anything.” Toby said.  
“I swear I saw it. Did I get a curse or something from that meteorite?” I said.  
“You really need to get that checked out.” Toby said.  
“I would but I have no idea what it is. Knowing what kind of curse you have is vital to getting rid of it.” I said.  
“Want me to walk you back to your dorm?” Toby asks.  
“Yes please.” I said as I stand up.

On the way back, I get an idea. My textbook for my zoology class! The have a huge section on the weird creatures made by the gods. I’m fairly certain the thing in my head is one of them. I get back to my dorm and immediately dive into the book. Arno isn’t here yet so I’m alone for the moment. 

I flip through the pages, looking at the illustrations of the monsters. There are some freaky things in here, but I can’t be distracted by them. Eventually I find a picture that resembles what I saw. A creature called a Trojan. 

It is made to sow chaos in others. It hides inside something, but not in a physical way. Almost as if its body vanishes and its spirit is bound to this object. When someone gathers information from the object it is hiding in, it will emerge. But it is trapped in whatever format was used to gather the information in the first place. 

It could hide inside a computer file, when released it acts like a computer virus. If hidden inside food and then eaten, it will make you incredibly sick. It could hide inside a tree, when the wood is made into something, that something acts as if it were possessed. It could hide inside a book, and act like a violent hallucination or a poltergeist to whoever reads it. If it has latched onto a person. It will often give them information or abilities that would lead to their misfortune. 

I knew it! This thing is why I have these powers. This thing wants me to be caught by those creeps and be subjected to that hellish fate! There must be something in this book that can tell me how to get rid of it. That will at least let me sleep well at night.

I find the solution easily. The book says qualified religious personnel can remove the trojan from a person’s soul, this also rids them of whatever it had given the person. However, it is vitally important for the one performing the act to know what has been added. Or else the person risks numerous mental issues such as insanity, dementia, and being in a vegetative state.

I pull out my phone and search for the nearest person capable of getting this thing out of me. The closest works at this school, the second closest is three towns away. I don’t have a car, nor could I just leave Crocus without permission. I’d risk suspension for doing that. While I have no qualms with having to run away from this school forever if it means I get to live, I’m not at that point yet. Getting permission is also not an option, I’d need some kind of excuse like a death in the family to leave here.

I close the book and consider my options. There is no way I could get this thing removed here without those people from the vision hearing about it. The book said these things are not to be taken lightly. Word will get out about it quick. They could probably delay me getting it out of me so they could catch me. It seems my only option is to get rid of this cult first. 

I remember some of the features of the people I saw in the vision. People with antlers and horns and distinctly shaped ears outlined by their hoods. I remember one of the ones restraining me had ram horns. Well there are at least three rams working at this school that I know of, and who knows how many in town. I suspect this group isn’t exclusively made of people in the school. The town has some pretty devout people in high places. I would imagine they are a part of this too. Plenty of influential townsfolk here have strong ties to the academy.

I begin to think about Achal. He’s valedictorian of his class. He would probably know where to look since he has gotten to know the staff pretty well. But I don’t think I can risk it. I doubt he’s part of this group since he would have obviously objected to that happening to me in the vision. Also he isn’t the kind of person to let this happen. Both the heresy part and the torturing of students for having specific blessings.

However I can’t trust him to know about these powers. Since having a blessing in secret is illegal. A controversial law, but it helps when you can know exactly what a criminal’s blessing is capable of. My only choice is to hide this power. Which should be easy since it gives me glimpses of the future and no one else notices them but me. However, I should be careful with acting on the information it gives me. If I go around seeming like I can see the future, I could get discovered. A bunch of students got food poisoning from the pasta last night, if anyone heard me convince Arno not to get it, they might have suspected something. I have to be cautious about this.

I realize I’ve been struggling to keep my eyes open. Probably because I didn’t sleep at all last night. I don’t have any other classes today despite that its only 1PM. All my other teachers had to cancel due to food poisoning. A small nap would do me some good. I still want to do some things today so I don’t want to fall asleep too long. I pull off a pillow from my bed and lay down on the couch, I set an alarm on my phone so I don’t oversleep and close my eyes. 

I’m in a place I don’t recognize, a room filled with random office supplies and children’s toys all strewn about in a big mess. The door is barricaded with a heavy desk, someone is banging on the other side. I know who it is, it’s those masked people again. They know I’m in here and they want me for my power.

I desperately dig through the mess for something, I don’t know what but I know I need something. I find it under a pile of blank copy paper, a singular blue cup. I pick it up and find a red pen, I pick that up too. I need to gather all of them and place them in a specific pattern on the floor before they get in. My life depends on it. But there is a problem, when the red and blue objects are near each other, they create more objects somewhere in this mess. I wake up for only a few seconds before falling back asleep. I need to keep the reds and blues separate, but I can’t unless I want to risk them getting buried in the mess some more as I look through for the remaining items. 

I hear someone start to hack away at the door with an axe. I wake up one again, my throat is aching for something to drink, I fall back asleep a few seconds later. So I need to create a rigid system of arranging these blue and red things so they never touch so I can collect them all. Then after that I need to clear a space big enough to arrange them in the pattern, then that will save me from them. But this room is so cluttered, I don’t have any room to put the junk and make space for the pattern! 

I get on my knees and begin clearing away the junk, maybe I’ll find them as I clear out a space! I pile the paper, staplers, chairs, folders, and toys to the sides. Begging for the mess to compress enough for me to escape with my life. 

But the pile is too loose, it keeps spreading when I bunch it up. I’m crying as I desperately try to organize this mess while the masked intruders continue to hack away at the thick door. I keep trying over and over, but it is never any use. I nearly collapse onto the floor, clutching my head in panic as I stare at the mess through the tears in my eyes. Someone grabs me from behind. I scream and jump in the opposite direction. I turn around to see Arno standing there looking worried. 

I’m not in that room anymore, I’m in my dorm. I’m lying against the side of my bed, my schoolwork strewn about the room from my opened backpack. I’m soaked in sweat and my throat is incredibly dry. My mind gradually realizes what was happening. 

A dream, I know it. I’ve had dreams like that before when I’ve been really sick in the past. I tend to sleepwalk during them. One time Achal found me wandering around our home at 3AM in tears because I was stressing out about some imaginary issue. I look at Arno as he squats down in front of me.

“What’s going on?” Arno said.  
“I…. I had a very bad dream. I don’t handle them well. I probably only had it because I’m going through some stuff.” I said.  
“Toby told me about that sensitive issue you had. We went into town for lunch and made sure no one heard us to not embarrass you.” Arno said.

I don’t know what came over me, but the next thing I knew I was hugging him as tight as I could as I started to softly cry. Arno was confused by this since this action is the most intimate thing we’ve ever done since we met. I quietly sob and confess how scared I am. I’ve been overwhelmed in confusion and panic for a while now, I just had to vent to someone. Arno pats me on the back before pushing me away and looking me in the eyes.

“We are going to get through this. I know our relationship is more complicated than anything else in our lives. But I couldn’t live with myself if I knew this could happen and didn’t do anything. You’re strong, I know you can beat this.” He said to me confidently.

I begin to feel calmer from his kind words. He’s right. I can get through this. My alarm on my phone goes off, did that dream really last two hours? I turn off the alarm and realize just how bad I smell. Even without my sweaty panic just now, I’ve been anxious all day. A shower will probably do me some good. I head into the bathroom with a spare set of clothes.

Before I close the door. Arno says Toby should meet us at the club on the boardwalk. We could discuss some kind of plan there. I ask Arno if he plans to tell Kassadia. He says there is no need to drag her into this, also she wouldn’t be much help to us. I tell him to message Toby before closing the door.


	7. A Plan, A Threat, And A Prediction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marwha and her friends discuss how to handle the situation.

“Okay. Try to remember. Anyone from your vision that you recognize?” Arno said.

We’re in the club. The music and conversations ensuring the discussion between us three is drowned out. We’re sitting in the same booth as before, Toby is keeping an eye out for anyone that might be listening in on us. Hopefully this is a safe place to discuss it.

“They were all wearing masks. I could only make out any features if they had a distinct tail or horns or something.” I said.  
“Any of them use blessings?” Arno said.  
“The one who seemed like the leader did. Some kind of electrical blast that paralyzed me for a brief time. But that’s the only blessing I could see happening.” I said.  
“What about voices, any of them sound familiar?” Arno said.  
“I honestly can’t remember them. But none of them stood out at the time.” I said.  
“Hmm…. Have you had any other visions that could help?” Arno said.  
“No, most of them are of things that happen later that day. I can’t really control it very much.” I said.  
“Here, type in any distinguishing features you saw on them. I have an idea.” Arno says as he pulls out his phone and hands it to me.

I open up a notepad app and type in what I knew. I also open a small drawing app and crudely recreate the masks I saw on them. The mask looked like it had a symbol resembling a drafting compass cut into it. I hand the phone back to Arno and he quickly pockets it.

I ask Arno what his plan is. He mentions the restricted areas of the school. About a quarter of each building on campus is restricted to staff only, they have electronic locks on all the entrances. It’s impossible for a student to get in without a key. I already suspect where Arno’s plan is going.

“You want us to sneak into the restricted areas?” I said.  
“No, just me. You go about your days laying low.” Arno said.  
“Wait, so what do you hope to accomplish in there?” Toby said.  
“I sneak in, and snoop around. Hopefully I can find some sort of proof or at least know who some of those jerks are.” Arno said.  
“What about security? Doesn’t your blessing only work on living things?” I said.  
“Photographs and recordings can’t get through my blessing, I know that for a fact. Unless they have something like a motion sensor or an infrared camera, I can get in and out undetected.” Arno said.  
“That actually might work. But how will you get in there without a key?” I said.  
“I’ve actually gotten in there before. I know a window I can climb through to get in. I saw it open one day and just couldn't resist peeking around. Marwha, any idea of something specific I could look for?” Arno said.  
“Oh! The leader in the vision. He said they had a list of every previous person they kidnapped. Maybe if you find that, you can get the police or something to look into it.” I said.  
“That could work. But we need a distraction of some kind. Something to justify me not being around….” Arno said.  
“Oh! The Pugna! That’s coming up in a week.” Toby said.

I had forgotten about that. The Pugna is some big competition held between the top schools of each religion. Satvius is one of the schools that participates. Students compete in it as emissaries from the gods themselves (and sometimes an actual god in the case of the Congregation) watch and observe. The gods are always looking for a reason to seem better than the others and this is one of the ways they do it. 

“How will that help?” Arno said.  
“Marwha can sign up for it. If she gets in, then she gets away from this school. She could maybe find help at wherever they hold the contest this year.” Toby said.  
“How do you know so much about this? We’re all in our first years here and I barely knew any of that.” Arno said.  
“I’m participating! I’m even the captain of one of the teams.” Toby said.  
“Didn’t your brother win one of those contests?” Arno said.  
“Yeah, last year. He was on a winning team. But you know the rules. Once you win, you can’t compete again.” I said.  
“Why is that?” Arno asked.  
“To make the outcome less predictable. One of the gods complained decades ago about a school having a team made entirely of winners from previous years. So winners are banned out of fairness to the others.” I said.  
“Okay…. So you’ll try to find outside help while you’re out for that. What about me?” Arno said.  
“The event takes a few days. But it’s during a week-long holiday for all religions. The academy will have fewer people in it, you could easily sneak around!” Toby said.  
“So while she’s gone, I look for clues. What about you?” Arno said.  
“Like I said, I’m captain of a team. I have full choice in who I bring with me. All Marwha has to do is volunteer and I can guarantee a spot on my team.” Toby said.  
“Honestly, it sounds like a pretty solid plan. I’ll go sign up right now.” I said as I pull out my phone to perform the online registry. 

After I sign up. Arno says he is going to go try to snoop around, we blink and he’s gone. After a few minutes of silence, Toby leaves as well. He offers to walk me back to the academy, but I decline. I finish my glass of water and leave the club as well not long after Toby is gone. 

I walk over to the statue at the center of the boardwalk, I look at the sunset in the distance over the crowded ocean. The sound of people and vendors peddling their wares suddenly gets to me, I can’t stand hearing it. I walk down onto the beach, where I can get some quiet. I sit down on the sand, not caring if my shoes and clothes get covered in sand. I watch the last sliver of sunlight vanish under the horizon, seeing the purple flash just as it disappears. 

I see a shell in the sand. I pick it up. My powers pin down the exact species of clam it came from and how long ago it died. I toss the shell towards the water, it falls short by around four feet. I hear someone walking through the sand behind me, I turn around cautiously to see who it is. Much to my dismay, it is the last person I wanted to see right now.

“The hell do you want Nicolo?” I said.  
“What’s with you? Were you holding back during all of our fights?” he said.

Nicolo looks not angry, but annoyed. And standing behind him is his fiancé Lalia. A black bear that’s also the largest person in my class. She’s not any easier to be around than Nicolo. Not to mention her blessing is very difficult to deal with.

“He asked you a question.” Lalia said in her thick accent that I was never really able to place.  
“What made you think I was holding back?” I said.  
“I overheard Misha talking about your match together. Even I wasn’t able to land a blow on the slippery bastard. How did you of all people manage to do it?” Nicolo said.  
“I dunno. Luck I guess?” I said.  
“Am I not a challenge to you!? Do you think I’m not worthy enough to fight you at your best!?” Nicolo said angrily.  
“Can this wait? I’m trying to enjoy this short respite before I have to go back to that bastard of a roommate I have.” I said.  
“Oh drop the fucking act!” Nicolo said as he grabs me by my shirt collar.  
“What act?” I said while keeping my composure.  
“The whole hating Arno thing! I know you’re faking it!” Nicolo said.  
“Why do you possibly think that?” I said.  
“You say you hate him. Yet I’ve been seeing you two together an awful lot lately.” Nicolo said.  
“That’s because we have the same schedules and live in the same place you idiot.” I said.  
“Well what about earlier today? I had suspected this so I went over to your room. I enhanced my hearing to let me hear through the thick walls. Sure didn’t sound like the words of two people who hate each other in there.” Nicolo said.  
“You don’t have any proof.” I said as I grab his arm.  
“I’ll get some! And maybe you both can stop making a scene everywhere you go. You don’t need to embarrass our class and make us all look bad just because you’re upset about marrying him!” Nicolo said.  
“Oh wow, these are some pretty interesting things this is telling me.” I said as he notices I’m looking elsewhere and immediately drops me.  
“You put that damn thing away!” Nicolo said.  
“You know, I'm planning on going into the medical field. And even with my limited knowledge, I can tell this is one embarrassing medical condition you have!” I said with a smile.  
“Wait, what?” Lalia said as she looks at Nicolo.  
“Oh she doesn’t know? Well she should since this could concern your future kids.” I said.  
“What is she talking about?” Lalia said.  
“L-listen! It’s not that bad okay? I just have to….” Nicolo said.  
“Yeah, that is only temporary. Should I tell her and whomever I please the rest of the details?” I said.  
“N-No! Dammit How is this happening only now?” Nicolo said.  
“I’ve known about it for a while, I was just waiting for a chance to use it. So how about we make a deal. You keep your mouth shut about my thing. And I’ll do the same with your various things you have going on in there.” I said while pointing to Nicolo’s torso.  
“Fine! But if you talk, I’m telling everyone you’re faking it!” Nicolo said.

Nicolo storms off. Lalia looks at me and then to him before following. I wait at least ten more minutes before getting up myself to head back to the academy. It’s getting dark and the mosquitos are coming out. I walk through the town on my way back.

I turn a corner and suddenly I’m thrust into another place in town, it must be another vision. I’m walking, someone in front of me is walking in the same direction. We arrive at a crosswalk and there are no cars in sight, so she heads right across. But the wind has picked up, it’s been getting rather windy lately. She gets halfway across the street when a traffic light is blown loose and falls. She is hit right on the head by it and has most of her skull crushed. She’s dead before she hits the ground. 

I snap out of the vision. That was…. Unsettling. I turn a corner, sure enough I see the same person walking the same way. And the dilemma of this situation hits me.

What if someone is watching? If I save her, someone could suspect me of having precognition. But if I don’t save her, well she will die. I gotta find a way to help her. Maybe if I say something to her, anything to make her stop walking for just a few seconds. I can see the crosswalk coming up soon, I have to do something. My mind is racing to think of something to say to her that doesn’t seem suspicious. She looks both ways at the street and I blurt out the first thing I can think of.

“Lalia! Is that you?” I said.  
“What? Who’s Lalia?” She said as she turned around to look at me.  
“Oh sorry, you kinda look like someone I know from behind.” I said nervously.

The traffic light is blown off and hits the street with a crash. Sparks and glass fall onto the ground as she jumps back from the sudden sound. She looks at the light, then the pole it hung from, and then me. I try to look surprised as well.

“Oh shit, that nearly fell on me!” She said.  
“Lucky break, something that big would have killed you.” I said.

She smiles at me and cautiously runs across the street to the other side. I don’t need to head in that direction so I turn right. Hopefully that didn’t seem too suspicious. I make it back to my room without incident.

The next morning, I hear knocking at my door. I wake up from a rather restful sleep that I desperately needed. I groggily sit up and look at the clock, it’s eight AM. I slowly stand up and go to the door. I open it to see Achal, I look at him through my barely open eyes. He looks concerned. Achal walks in without saying anything and I close the door. Arno wakes up and watches from the top of his bunk. 

“Marwha, are you feeling okay?” Achal said.  
“I’m tired, but otherwise I’m fine.” I said.  
“Are you sure?” Achal said as I sit down on the couch.  
“Yes! What’s got you so worried?” I said.  
“It’s just…. Ever since you nearly drowned, you’ve been acting differently. You won a sparring match for the first time, you’ve been going to the bar down on the boardwalk more, and I even heard you signed up for The Pugna. I heard that sometimes after a near-death experience, people start acting different….” Achal said.  
“Achal. It’s fine. Yes, nearly dying was rather traumatic and I haven’t really felt the same since. But I’m fine.” I said to try and reassure my brother.  
“Are you though? You’ve been looking rather shaken up lately.” He said.  
“Why are you even worried about this? I thought you would be happy I'm winning fights and getting out more and participating in this weird competition.” I said.  
“That’s not you though! I know who my sister is and people don’t just change like this overnight. Just please, can you tell me why you’re changing like this?” He said.  
I remembered the excuse I had made for this situation last night. “I just want to test things out, see what’s really right for me. Nearly dying made me rethink some things.” 

Achal doesn’t speak. That’s the best answer he is going to get and he knows it. He leans in and gives me a hug despite my morning breath. He tells me to be careful and I can always come to him if I need to talk. Achal leaves the dorm and closes the door. 

I sit back down on the couch, I want to return to my bed. But I am having an awfully hard time convincing my body to get up and move in my tired state. Arno asks if I’m fine, I tell him I am. Arno flops back down on his pillow to resume what little rest he has left before class.

I close my eyes, I never fall back asleep. Instead I just sit there with my mind wandering, which I hear is still restful in a way. I think about how I need to prepare for The Pugna. I only ever saw one. The one which Achal participated in last year. They show it on TV when it happens. This isn’t the only one they have, they hold others for certain demographics. I remember seeing a bit of the one between the police of various cities, it got a bit too wild for me.

They have some kind of competition each event. What that event is changes every time. Achal’s game had him and his team trying to find and assemble religious artifacts. All while trying to compete with the other teams also trying to win. Achal ended up being on a winning team. Sometimes multiple teams can win, other times only one. Sometimes the individual members of the team can win while others on the same team lose. It’s a mystery what my game will be like.

I briefly open my eyes to look at the time before closing them again. But then I see something. I don’t know if it’s another vision from the future, or just a weird half-asleep dream. But I only see a flash of it. The face of The Grey Elder only a few feet from me. 

I nearly jump up out of my seat. My heart is suddenly pounding. I look around the room just barely lit with the light of the morning sun. Please let that just be a dream. I can’t handle that monstrosity on top of everything else in my life.


	8. Pre-Game Preparation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marwha, Toby, and the six others representing their school are introduced before the game begins.

The Pugna is being held in its traditional spot. On top of a plateau surrounded by a massive city. The arena where it happens is a large complex made of stone ruins all overgrown with plants. Allegedly this was made by some ancient person with a powerful blessing. They had given the gods a place to hold these competitions, and all three pantheons surprisingly agreed to use it. It’s rare for all three of them to get along like that.

The arena itself is located on the other side of the ocean I’m often looking at. We arrived there after a five hour flight. Right now we are all waiting in a hotel donated to us by the ones who organize this event. It starts in a few hours.

Each school has two teams for each year. The team I'm on includes me, Toby, and two others. First there is Passeri, a nightingale with a strange sound-based blessing that only works when he is playing an instrument. He had to file specific paperwork so he could be allowed to bring a banjo with him into the arena. The other is Scott, who is one of the more domestic breeds of dogs. I think whatever he is was called a terrier. I’ve honestly never interacted with him until now even though he’s in some of my classes. His blessing allows him to generate auditory and visual hallucinations, however he has little control over this power. He came to Satvius to help him learn how to better handle it. 

On the other year one team from Satvius Academy is Nicolo, he obviously couldn’t resist a chance to inflate his ego even more. Alongside him is his partner Lalia, she can absorb and release kinetic energy. But only a certain amount of it, but it’s still enough to be an issue for anyone going up against her. With them is also Tamara, a rat who is rather unpleasant to be around due to her manipulative nature. Not to mention her blessing lets her exist in an incorporeal state that lets her fly and phase through any matter she touches. Their final member is Victor, a lynx who is Tamara’s roommate. His blessing lets him possess objects kind of like a ghost in a horror movie, at least that’s how I heard it was described as since I’ve never seen it myself. Oddly enough, Victor and Tamara aren’t engaged. Apparently they are both gay and the school doesn’t want to risk the PR disaster that would be trying to force a gay student into marriage with someone who isn’t. If only I had known that in advance, I would easily have pretended to be lesbian for five years to avoid this marriage. 

Victor was probably peer pressured into joining Nicolo’s team. What with Tamara being a good friend of the feathery bastard. He’s a good guy, just mixed up with some bad people. Hope I don’t have to fight him.

Wait what am I thinking about? We don’t fight in this contest. Even among all the different competitions, they never had the teams turn on each other. While I doubt Nicolo will be supportive, even he knows we have a better chance of winning if we work together. At least I hope he does.

The hotel we’re staying in is definitely on the fancier side. I haven’t been in many hotels growing up, but I can already tell this one is higher quality. Thankfully the rooms we are paired up in have separate beds. I’m staying with Passeri, there is a door on the wall that leads to the room where Toby and Scott are staying.

I’m lying on my bed with my red school coat off, leaving the yellow undershirt I wear underneath on. I’m really just lounging until the game starts. We arrived here late last night and the thing starts in the afternoon. I haven’t had much time to go looking for a solution to my Trojan problem. Once my game is over, I have at least three more days to go into town and look. So now I’m just waiting for this to be over. 

Passeri is sitting cross-legged on the other bed. Calmly playing his banjo while pausing to make sure it’s tuned. Eventually the song he plays is the same one I heard that lyrebird on the boardwalk play. Just like his song, it also has a great calming effect on me.

“Hey, what’s that song called?” I said.  
“Can’t tell ya. Family secret.” Passeri said as he continued to pluck at the strings with his talons.  
“Is it supposed to be so calming, or is it your blessing doing that?” I said.  
“My blessing helps, but the song is doing most of the work. It just has that effect on people. But I guess it isn’t an ordinary song either.” He said.  
“What do you mean?” I ask.  
“The song was allegedly written by one of the original messiahs. Or at least one of their followers. It has this special quality about it. Anyone can play the notes, but the song doesn’t work unless you know the name.” Passeri said.  
“That doesn’t make sense.” I said.  
“I don’t get it either. None of my family does. We’ve had sound blessings run through the bloodline for as long as the records go. And this song has been there with them. I don’t bother trying to understand it, I just accept it.” Passeri said.  
“Weird…. But cool.” I said.  
“What about you? Both you and your brother have contact activated blessings that take something from who or whatever you touch. Any history behind that?” He said.  
“None that I know of.” I said.  
“Hmm…. So this is off topic and I hope you don’t mind me asking. But what’s with you and the hybrid guy?” He said.  
“What do you mean?” I said.  
“You both are always fighting all the time, why is that?” He said.  
“The guy is insufferable to live with. He’s a total slob, he steals things from people and they always complain to me about it, his blessing allows him to do all sorts of stuff without me knowing, he might have even felt me up when I was sleeping for all I know, and he constantly pesters me in these tiny little passive aggressive ways. I wish I could stop living with him.” I said, lying about everything.  
“You really think he used his power to grope you or something?” He said.  
“I don’t know, I wouldn’t have felt anything if he did. But he is certainly capable of doing that. The guy already steals and spies on people. That’s not too far of a step.” I said.  
“You know, maybe try leaving out the sexual harassment part next time you’re lying to someone. That could get him in serious trouble.” Passeri said as he stopped playing.

What the hell!? Does he know too? I barely know this guy, how could he have figured it out when we barely interact! I sit up and glare at him, he looks back.

“There are no cameras or recording devices in here. My blessing helped me check. No need to lie to me.” Passeri said.  
“How did you find out?” I said.  
“My blessing is very in tune with emotions and senses. So long as I was playing I could tell if you were lying.” He said as he continued to play.  
“Dammit. Do we need to go about this different? I need people to believe it.” I said as I flop back down on the bed.  
“Most people believe it and want to stay away. It’s the people who want to find out why you hate each other, they’re the problem.” Passeri said.  
“It’s not that I hate him. Hell, he’s a great guy. He’s even doing a huge favor for me back at the academy. But this marriage is just bothering both of us. Do you feel like that at all with your partner?” I said.

Passeri stops playing in the middle of his song. He looks at me, and then at the wall in front of him. He takes a deep breath and exhales through his nostrils. Then he resumes playing.

“We’ve both agreed to go through with the marriage. But we will essentially be…. What are they called, swingers? The proper term is open marriage I think.” He said.  
“I think that’s the word for it.” I said.  
“Yeah. Don’t get me wrong, she’s great. But I'm not ready for a commitment like that yet. Maybe in ten or fifteen years sure, but not now.” He said.  
“So you aren’t okay with this forced marriage thing either.” I said.  
“That’s one way of looking at it. But at the same time. There is an overwhelming amount of happy couples produced by this school. I’d quite like to get married, have kids, and spend my life with someone I love dearly. I just don’t want to do that right away. We’re both 18, and we’ll be out of here by the time we’re 23, I want to be a free bird for a bit longer than that.” He said.  
“I don’t see how….” I begin to say before we’re interrupted by the sight of a new guest.

Tamara, she’s phasing right through the wall between our beds. Her large ears perked up with a smug little smile on her face. She floats down onto a cabinet against the wall and sits on the edge. She’s the second most insufferable person at the academy I have met. But unlike Nicolo, I could easily kick her ass due to her being just barely five feet tall and scrawny as hell. If only she stayed solid long enough for me to do it.

“What do you want?” Passeri said as he stopped playing.  
“We’re here to talk strategy.” She said.  
“Didn’t think the big bald bastard would cooperate with us.” I said.  
“Oh he isn’t. We’re going to take the win. I’m just warning you all to stay out of our way.” She said.  
“Why? We all are on the same side, we have nothing to gain by not working together.” I said.  
“Nicolo doesn’t want to be outshined by Toby, he’s the only one to rival him in the sparring matches. Nicolo knows he can’t bring him down directly, so he is going after his pride.” She said.  
“Great. Now will you please leave us alone?” Passeri asked.  
“And let you all hog the only eye candy I’m allowed to feast my eyes on?” She said while looking at me.

Being immune to getting socked in the face has led to Tamara having little restraint in making others angry or uncomfortable. Making half-assed flirts at other girls is one way she does it, and since I know Nicolo would get pissed if she did it with Lalia, she is doing it to me. She even makes these dumb jokes related to “Catcalling” Despite how many times I’ve told her I’m not feline. But she doesn’t care.

She’s gazing at me in a way that’s so uncomfortable I feel like I should report her for indecent exposure. Then, Passeri begins to play a song. A different one, one that makes Tamera’s eyes go wide. She starts having trouble keeping herself upright, then she falls onto the floor. I look over the side of the bed and see her struggling to stand up. She pleads to Passeri to stop because she’s getting nauseous and is about to vomit. He stops his song, she gets on her feet almost immediately. She says we’re bad sports and phases back through the wall she came in. 

I knew Passeri could mess with people’s senses. I didn’t know that meant causing severe disorientation. I was close and I’m feeling a bit dizzy too. I can see why Toby picked him. 

One choice for a teammate I don’t understand is Scott. He’s sort of notorious in the school. He generates often horrifying hallucinations and he has little control over them both in who they affect and when they are created at all. The academy gave him a special headband with some weird symbol on it, the thing suppresses his blessing. Normally that kind of thing is used on criminals to keep their blessings in check, but I guess situations like this also call for it. 

I haven’t really interacted with Scott much either. Though I have noticed his tendency to fall asleep during class. He’s lucky his partner is so proactive at keeping him caught up. I think his blessing keeps him up at night. Even with the headband on, it only suppresses his blessing. It can’t outright disable it. I wanted to ask Toby why he picked Scott for his team, but I haven’t had an opportunity to talk to him alone. Me being on this team is enough of a handicap, having someone whose blessing doesn’t distinguish between friend and foe is another one altogether.

I’ll admit, I was a bad choice for this. My blessing only works on contact and even then I don’t see it being very useful. I suppose the precognition would help, but I’m not even supposed to have that. Even beyond that, I’ve only won a single sparring match. I know he had better picks than me, which is why some people are upset at his choice. His main excuse for bringing me is that there are a few select situations where my blessing would be indispensable. Since I’m the only one with such a blessing that volunteered, he chose me. 

But Scott. I still am trying to figure out why he is here. I don’t know how good he is in sparring, if he even is one of the students signed up for sparring at all. Arno isn’t, the lucky bastard. Allegedly it’s because his blessing is a health risk, he could turn invisible and get knocked out and drown in the water while no-one could find him or something. Scott’s blessing probably doesn’t apply there. Maybe he can’t spar because his blessing is unstable. 

At least here there won’t be many to get affected by it should it go out of control. Despite this game taking place in an arena, there is no audience. The entire thing is filmed with camera drones flying above. But there are always four observers. An emissary sent by each pantheon, and a member of the Irreligious. The atheistic group that urges people to only believe in a god they truly accept, rather than just worshipping whomever based on how you were raised. A strange group nowhere near the size of any other religion, but the gods appreciate them being around.

Apparently in this massive never-ending contest between them, they view the Irreligious as a wild card of sorts. A fourth party unbound by any manipulation by either of the three religions. This factor shakes up their contests, makes things more exciting to them. The gods hate losing, but when the Irreligious win, then at least it wasn’t any of the other religions that won. It’s almost childish in how they act.

The game I’m a part of will be starting soon. I need to get ready. I get dressed and head down to the lobby of the hotel with Passeri. There I see the rest of my team and Nicolo’s team. Someone from the group who organizes all of this walks in and tells us to get on a bus. I breathe deeply and walk on in. 

We arrive at the arena after a short ride. We are led to a building on the rim of the arena, a building with the symbol of The Grand Design on it. The inside leads to a large elevator that looks like it was made to transport cargo. Standing in front of the elevator is one of the organizers of this contest. She tells us to line up before getting on the elevator.

We each have a metal bracelet locked onto our wrists. It’s tight enough where I can’t move it at all. She explains these are tracking bracelets, they show them where we are and monitor our heartbeats. Should one of us get seriously injured, the bracelet will let them know so they can be given help. Soon we are all on the elevator and the door closes, leaving the eight of us alone as it begins to descend. One of the walls has a screen on it. We are immediately greeted by footage of someone that I assume is the head of this whole group in charge here.

“Hello young men and women. Today you get to participate in the Pugna, the cherished battle of skill between the followers of our gods. Speaking of which, allow me to introduce our divine spectators.” They said as the camera switched to a view of three figures sitting in a chair.

The first one is introduced as “The Sight-Bearer of the Grand Designer.” And it’s a bipedal creature with no head and instead three large hands sprouting from its neck to hold a massive glowing eye. The Grand Designer likes to send and eye and get it back later to absorb what it has seen.

The second one is a being made of pure gold and draped in ribbons, sashes, medallions, pins, and even a large belt. Representing The Congregation, Agonn the god of organized competitions. I heard the gods in the Congregation can be specific, but now I'm wondering what a god of unorganized competition looks like.

The final one is a hooded figure slumped over so you cannot see their face thanks to the hooded robe they wear. In their hands is a large cane with a lantern on the end, an elaborate lantern with a purple flame in it. A lightbringer of Sophist Diogen. Who can see all within the flame’s sight.

The camera moves once more, to a separate seat below the gods. An irreligious monk, likely some high ranking member of whatever that group has for leadership. Here to represent the Irreligious school taking part in this. They willingly seat themselves below the gods as to not seem arrogant, they don’t believe they deserve to sit alongside such powerful beings.

The elevator stops and we arrive at a room with a metal door and another screen on the wall where the announcer is still talking. We all step off the elevator and turn our attention towards the screen. Time to figure out what we will be doing. 

“As you know, the game changes every match. Using a program painstakingly tweaked to be completely unbiased towards any god, we have determined the task for you all today! If you’ll please notice your bracelets have four small lights on them. What color they are depends on what religion you represent. Purple for Sophist Diogen, green for Congregation, red for Grand Design, blue for Irreligious. You all start with one of the lights turned on.” They said.

I look down on my wrist and see four small bulbs. One of them lights up with red. I look around and see everyone else is lit up the same way. Then I notice a round node on the part of the bracelet at the bottom of my wrist.

“If you’ll notice on the bottom, there is this little round bit. Put this part on top of the area around the four lights to transfer their point to you. You can only transfer points that do not match your own.” They said as they demonstrated transferring a red light to a bracelet with a green light so it has both a green and red light while the other has none. “You must gather four points and make your way to the center to win. Teams will not get a collective win, each individual must earn their win. The game ends when eight winners have reached the center, or the allotted time runs out. Whatever religion has the most winners will be victorious. Use whatever nonlethal means are needed to secure this win. The game begins when the door opens.”

The screen goes black. Nicolo and his group are making a plan, I can see Toby and Passeri whispering as well. Toby says for me and Scott to follow them once the door opens. Soon, an alarm sounds, the door screeches open. The four of us take off into the elaborate city of overgrown ruins.  



	9. The Spectator Sport Of The Gods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marwha and her team attempt to win the game in the name of their religion. But a strange encounter makes Marwha worried.

“I don’t get it. He’s just sitting there playing the banjo.” I said.  
“Wait for it. I chose him for a reason.” Toby said.

We had made our way to the top of a ziggurat, one of the many inside this arena. There is a spiral path leading to the top along the outside. At the top is a square room with four entrances cut into the stone walls. Passeri is sitting in the center playing another song I had never heard before. I wonder if his blessing is restricted to certain songs, or he can just apply them to whatever he wants.

Toby, Scott, and I are standing outside of the room. Passeri said to because we could absorb some of the sound and make it less loud. Speaking of that. I don’t know if this thing has good acoustics or it’s his blessing. But this song seems much louder than it should be.

Out of curiosity, I tap the side of the wall. The window that pops up tells me mostly what I expected to hear. The composition of the stone, the exact weight of the structure, and all that typical stuff. But what surprises me is the age of this thing.

This building is older than the world itself. The current one that is. This must have come from the dead world, the one the gods had nearly annihilated in their initial war. The world that was so messed up that they agreed on a truce and made a new world for everyone to live on. That’s what the history books said at least. Did they bring this building from the dead world? The other structures I see are around the same design architecturally, they probably came from there too.

“Oh! Someone heard my song!” Passeri said, derailing my train of thought.  
“Where are they?” Toby said.  
“Near that structure with the broken spire. What should I do?” Passeri said as he nodded towards the direction so he could keep playing.  
“Alright, hit them with something disorienting. Make sure they stay in place. Me and Scott will run over and get em.” Toby said.  
“What about me?” I said.  
“Stay here and guard Passeri, he is vital to my plan. Let’s go Scott.” Toby says as he and Scott begin to descend the ziggurat.

Passeri lifts up a single string on his banjo with a talon. He holds it in place for a second before releasing it. The string snaps back with a loud “TWANG” that echoes into the distance. Passeri then plays the same song he used on Tamara. He explains he can’t use his blessing to detect others while he is doing this, so I need to keep watch. Which should be simple since there is only one way up this building without climbing up the side.

As soon as the thought leaves my mind, I see something glowing and rapidly ascending the outside of the ziggurat. Why isn’t Toby stopping that? Isn’t he running down the side too? The yellow light reaches the top just a few feet away from me. The light dissipates and I suddenly realize how bad of an idea it was to leave me to guard Passeri.

Three students from Sipcata academy, the school from Congregation territory. They’re wearing green uniforms that are oddly similar to ours, did we get them from the same tailors or something? A muscular iguana is carrying the other two in their arms, I see sparks of light near their feet. They must have used their blessing to carry the other two. I could just barely manage to fight someone one on one, I can’t fight three on one!

Toby nudges my arm, shaking me out of it. Passeri said he found someone, that whole thing I saw was another vision? When Toby is done telling Passeri to disorient whoever he saw, I grab Toby’s arm and whisper to him what I saw. I make sure to be as quiet as possible in case these bracelets are listening in on us.

Scott is waiting for Toby’s signal to go after the target but Toby is thinking of what to do. After Passeri begins his disorientation song, Toby tells Scott to bring me with him instead. Scott is obviously confused, but trusts Toby is making the right choice. The two of us run down the side of the side of the ziggurat and in the direction of the spire Passeri pointed out.

We run into the ancient city, taking side paths instead of the main road. Mostly because we both know what an ambush is. We’re staying close to the overgrown grass in case we need to hide. We peek around every corner before every turn as well, you really can’t be too careful here.

The building with the broken spire is a block away from where we are. I tap the side of the structure we’re peeking around, the window says the same age as the ziggurat. I know I should be focusing on the game, but the fact that I’m standing in a city from the dead world is still very freaky to me. We move back behind the corner and I look at Scott.

“What’s the plan?” I said.  
“Well, Passeri should be doing most of the work for us. We should be able to go in, get it, and get out. I’ll signal Passeri when we’re a safe distance away. I think, my short term memory is kinda bad. I was depending on Toby to remember the plan.” Scott said.  
“Well you know more than me. Lead the way.” I said.

The building resembles a small but very tall pyramid, but with a good portion of the top broken off. I notice a long piece of rubble in a tangle of roots from a nearby tree, I guess that’s where the missing piece went. We walk into the dark interior, the only light coming from the occasional window carved out of the wall. We aren’t walking for long before we see the one Passeri saw.

Another student from Sipcata academy. But this one is some kind of weird snake, not any of the students I saw before. Scott identifies him as being a bush viper. He’s on the floor, struggling to stand up, much like Tamara was earlier. He looks at us amidst his struggling.

“Why am I so dizzy and why do I hear a banjo!?” he said.  
“Sorry, we won't be long.” I said.

I move to grab his wrist with the bracelet on it, but Scott stops me. He says we have to be careful since we could get caught in Passeri’s song as well if we get too close. I ask him what the hell we can do since we can’t get close to get his point. Scott says he has a plan, but he needs me to hold onto him.

I have my arm wrapped around his waist as he reaches over to the bracelet. Scott slowly manages to transfer his point to his bracelet, clearly hindered by Passeri’s song. The bush viper is clearly feeling nauseated from the song and annoyed by our theft. He tells me to pull him away. I tug and end up causing us to fall backwards onto the floor. Scott takes a few seconds to re-orient himself as we stand up. But amid Scott’s struggling and the other guy’s similar noises, I hear footsteps echoing through the stone interior.

A bush viper runs into the room, the exact same one on the ground. Except, this one’s eyes are completely white. This guy must have a blessing that lets him create a copy of himself. I notice the copy isn’t wearing a bracelet either.

“Took you long enough!” The bush viper said.  
“Creator, I sensed you were in distress and abandoned my post to come to your aid.” The copy said in a distorted version of his voice.  
“Stop them!” the bush viper said.  
“Understood, attacking largest threat.” The copy said.

The copy immediately turned towards Scott, who had just now managed to get on his feet. This thing should have no idea who we are, can it somehow instinctively know which of us is a bigger threat? I need to stop it before it gets to him. I tackle the copy to the ground and attempt to keep his arms pinned. I struggle to keep a grip on it since he is slightly bigger than me.

One of his arms gets free, I quickly activate my blessing on my other hand. He tries to push me off, I’m making it as difficult as I can while I read what information the window is giving me. This copy is biologically identical to its creator, however it will vanish if we damage it enough. But the best thing I see is that nothing the copy experiences will affect the user. That gives me an idea.

I use my free arm to grab a loose rock on the ground. Then I slam it into the side of the copy’s head. The copy cries out in pain as something that definitely isn’t blood leaks from his fresh wound. I leap off and see a root growing down from the ceiling. I grab it and snap it off, creating a jagged stick. I stab the stick into the concussed copy’s torso. It lets out a gurgle as it stops moving. The copy dissolves into whatever substance was leaking out of it, soon it’s just a puddle.

I’m not good at hand to hand combat, that’s why my sparring record is so shit. But if I have some kind of weapon, I tend to do better. It also helps that I was able to attack without worrying about killing someone. Scott is at his feet as the bush viper looks in surprise.

“let’s go.” I said.  
“Hold on! How did you know you could kill him?” The bush viper said.  
“My blessing told me plenty of neat things about it.” I said as I watched the puddle of stuff dissolve.  
“Well, you did good taking down that one.” He said.

I’m about to ask what he means before a scaly hand reaches out from behind me and shoves me to the floor. I look up to see another copy. Dammit, how many does he have!? The bush viper tells the copy to help him. The copy runs over to pick him up. But he immediately collapses on top of him due to Passeri’s song.

“I MEANT ATTACK THEM YOU IDIOT!” he said.  
“Instructions were too vague, interpreted orders to the best of my ability.” The copy said.  
“You’re lucky I can’t un-summon you.” He said.

I silently get to my feet and nod towards the exit, trying to hide a laugh as this guy is having a bad enough day already. Scott and I run outside. We run back to the ziggurat as fast as we can. Halfway there, Scott tells me to stop. He climbs to the top of a tree and takes out a lens from his glasses. He gets it in the sunlight and reflects it towards where Passeri is. He puts the lens back in and climbs down. We continue on towards the ziggurat. Surprisingly, we meet Passeri and Toby halfway there.

“What are you guys doing here?” I said.  
“Those three that came after us had friends on their way. We needed to get out of there.” Toby said.  
“You got attacked?” Scott said.  
“Erm. Yeah. Three people came up not long after you left, we got their points though.” Toby said as he held up his bracelet to show he had three points, Passeri held up his to show he had two.  
“Okay, so what’s the plan?” Scott said.  
“We have four points. We could send one of us to the center and ensure we have at least one win for us. Or we could stick together and increase our chances of winning.” Toby said.  
“What about that thing it did when you got four points?” Passeri said.  
“What thing?” I said.  
“When I got four points, one of those camera drones flew directly over me and began glowing. I think they are made to give away the location of anyone who has four points. Thankfully I gave one to Passeri and it went away.” Toby said.  
“So someone running off with four points alone is risky.” Scott said.  
“Then I say we stick together for now. If we get close to the center, we’ll send Marwha with the points.” Toby said.  
“Actually, I have an idea. What if we gave someone enough points to call in a drone, and we used it to lure people here?” Passeri said.  
“Hey, they could work. One of us can head towards the center with the others hanging behind to ambush anyone who goes after them. Marwha, you wanna be the bait?” Toby said.  
“Sure, I’ll give it a try.” I said.

Toby and Passeri transfer their points to me. Sure enough, a drone appears overhead and lights up like a signal flare. They all duck behind buildings to get out of view. I begin walking towards the center.

Best case scenario, someone takes the bait and we take their points. Hopefully then I get sent to the center as well. I’ll be honest, the most fun I’ve had since I got here is seeing Tamara nearly puke and killing that copy earlier. Though the amount of enjoyment I got from killing that thing worries me a bit, maybe I just have a lot of pent up anger. Oh who am I kidding, of course I do.

I hope I don’t end up costing Toby the win. I’m sure he had a dozen better choices instead of me. But he was kind enough to give me a chance to get this thing out of my head, even if it might cost him his contest. If he loses, I need to make this up to him. I’ll just try to do the best job I can. Which would be easier if I hadn’t just tripped on a random root. I fall to the ground and look back at what I tripped on. I see the root growing out of the stone street, but then I see it lower back onto the ground.

“Oh shit, I didn’t know it was you.” Victor said as I see the lynx peek out from behind a tree.  
“No hard feelings dude.” I said as I get to my feet.  
“How the hell did you get four points?” Lalia said as she emerged from a dark doorway with Nicolo.  
“We helped. We’re trying to bait people out.” Toby said as he and the others walked into the street with me.  
“Good idea, but I’d feel better if you went to the center.” Nicolo said.  
“I thought you weren’t going to cooperate with us?” Passeri said.  
“That was before I knew what this game was going to be. The sooner we get you and your points to the center, the sooner we have the weakest link in our school’s team gone.” Nicolo said.  
“Tamara isn’t your weakest link? She’s weaker than me. Where is that creepy shit anyway?” I said.  
“She’s out scouting for other people. Her blessing comes in handy for supporting us. Unlike a certain cat we know.” Nicolo said.  
“I’m not a cat.” I said.  
“Hold up! I see something.” Passeri said as he pointed towards a wooded area.

An orange glow was rushing through the trees towards us. It flies through the trees without harming them, it passes through Toby and it doesn’t do a thing too. It heads to Passeri and hits his banjo. There is the sound of metal strings snapping as the head of his banjo is cut off.

Passeri looks down at his former instrument wide-eyed as Toby warns us another orange glow is heading our way. I turn around just in time to see it hit Scott in the head. Scott is unharmed, but his suppressing headband falls to the floor. Whoever this is, they must have the power to sever specific things from a long distance.

Scott says he won’t be able to control his blessing without the headband. I’m immediately shown images of monsters crawling from behind the trees. Everyone is seeing the same thing, Scott assures us that nothing we see is real. But that doesn’t stop me from being terrified at a monstrous caricature of what is clearly one of the cultists from the vision I had, does Scott’s blessing let him bring out stuff from people’s fears too?

A rotten corpse with no head and tattered robes walks out holding a jar with a deformed head inside. The head opens its mouth and lets out a shriek straight out of my nightmares. It’s so loud all we do is cover our ears. I hope auditory hallucinations can’t give me hearing problems. If I walk out of this with Tinnitus, I’m going to be pissed.

I feel something wrap around my leg, I look down to see a black tendril constricting around it. As soon as I realize it’s there, I’m yanked off my feet and pulled into a shadow that is much darker than it should be. I don’t fully understand what happened, but I was suddenly in a different place. Someone can make shadow portals, great.

I’m immediately grabbed off the floor and bear-hugged by a mastiff in a blue uniform. This thing’s as big as Lalia and she looks like she could snap me in half. I’d attempt to struggle but I doubt I could even begin to get myself loose from this grip. Someone grabs my right arm. I see a barn owl place their bracelet on top of mine to steal my points.

“Nice job bro, you got the one we needed.” She said.  
“Hey, it was your portals that let us do it.” Another identical owl said as a black tendril retracts into his sleeve.  
“Hey, what about me?” the mastiff said.  
“You’re doing great too Suzanne, just hold her still for a bit longer.” She said.

Soon, all of my points are gone. She lets go of me as a glowing drone appears in the sky above the owl. I stand up and the three of them look at me. Yeah, I can’t do shit against them.

“Can you at least tell me which direction I should go to find my friends?” I said.  
“Thataway.” The owl who stole my points said as she points towards what I assume is the area I was before.

I rub my leg and walk off in the direction she pointed to. Well this wasn’t my ideal outcome, being out here alone with nothing. But I don’t really have a choice in the matter. I can’t see how it could get worse though. If anyone tries to get me, I can just show I have no points. No point in doing anything with me then.

An alarm rings and someone over a loudspeaker says half of the time for the game has elapsed. They also say that it is about to rain and to be careful of that. I look up and notice the clouds are rather dark. Well, hopefully I can get back to Toby before that happens.

Sure enough, ten minutes after the announcement. It begins to rain. Ten more minutes and it’s starting to pour. I’m nowhere near where I’m supposed to be. So since I’d prefer not to get soaked, I duck inside one of the buildings. I sit down and lean up against the stone wall, I could use some rest.

“Do you know what a nuisance you are to me?” a gravelly voice said.

I look around and to my displeasure, I see the Trojan on the opposite side of the room. I haven’t seen it much lately, but I’ve always felt that it was there. I haven’t been getting good sleep ever since I got this thing. Now it’s talking to me directly.

“I’m a nuisance to you!? You’re the one literally endangering my life!” I said.  
“I was meant for greater things. But you’re a dead end. I can barely do anything with you. This whole precognition thing is my only option to cause as much mayhem as I can!” it said.  
“Well then leave.” I said.  
“No, I cannot. You are who I am bonded to.” it said as it walked up to me.  
“Get back, I am not in the mood to deal with you.” I said.  
“Neither am I. If I can’t cause the destruction I want through you. Then I shall destroy you!” it said as it leaned in close.  
“Do not!” a horrifying voice said.

A massive wrinkled hand grabs the Trojan by its head and crushes it. The Trojan vanishes but says how this won’t kill it. The image I see behind it is the absolute worst thing I could have ever seen. The Grey Elder, the damn agent of evil is in this building and looking right at me!

At least now I know the pictures of its head are accurate. It looks like it’s wearing a fleshy robe, the arm extending out of it is as thick as a tree trunk. I can see inside the robe is a terrible collection of spiny appendages and other horrifying parts. The arm retracts into its robe as the twelve foot tall horror seems to glide across the floor over to me. Who is trembling and backed into the wall. By that gods, that vision I had was true.

“Marwha Shinsain. I was not expecting to see you here.” It said.  
“H….How….” I tried to say but I’m too scared to form words.  
“A being such as myself knows many things. Including who is infected with a Trojan. I knew it was going to have a meltdown, so I had to delay its attack on you.” It said.  
“D….Delay?” I said.  
“You won’t be able to remove the Trojan in this town. I’ve made sure of that. I have a plan, and I can’t risk any disruptions.” It said.  
“I….I” I said.  
“I must go. But one last thing. Do not tell any mortal being I was here. Or I shall come after you personally.” It said as it backed around a corner.

My heart’s pounding, I run out into the rain. Adrenaline carrying me through the downpour even though I can barely see. I don’t even know where I’m running, I just have an overwhelming desire to get as far away as I can. I end up at the building with the broken spire. My lungs are burning and I’m soaked, I scramble inside and rest against a wall.

A drone flies into the building and looks at me. A voice spoken through the drone tells me my heart rate spiked massively recently, it asks if anything is wrong. I tell it I’m fine, I just got spooked. The drone hovers there for a minute before leaving. I close my eyes as I sit there against the wall panting and exhausted.

An alarm rings, I realize I’ve been sleeping. The announcer says the game is over. The winner is Satvius academy. What the shit, we won!? I stand up and look towards the center, thankfully the rain has died down. The loudspeaker tells all to head in that direction. I stand up on my aching legs and walk towards the center.

The center looks more like a big concrete umbrella than anything else that is in this arena. All of the students are there. I guess I was the only one left to arrive. I see the students in blue on one side, and the students in green nearby. The bush viper looks at me with his copy. I see Toby, Passeri, and Scott waving me down. I walk over and notice Nicolo’s group is separated from them.

“Dear gods Marwha, what happened!?” Toby said as he looks at my soaked, exhausted self.  
“Those owls over there had a blessing that teleported me away, they stole my points. I spent the entire game trying to find you guys again.” I said as I pointed to the owls.

I can’t tell if I'm sweating from all the rain I walked through, but it certainly feels like I should be. The others aren’t much better, they also are soaked as bad as I am. Covered in dirt and other debris. We both hear Nicolo yell at someone to “Piss off” we look and see a blue-tailed skink in a purple uniform shrugging and walking towards us. And she is surprisingly dry.

“Hey, want me to dry you guys off? I got a blessing that can help with it.” She said.  
“By all means.” I said as I gestured to my soaked form.

She holds her hand out and I feel a slight tugging on my clothing. The water is drawn out of it and forms into a ball in her palm. My clothes are now totally dry. Unfortunately, my fur-covered body isn’t.

“Can you get my fur too?” I said.  
“Sorry, I can’t really use it on living things. Past attempts have been not very pretty.” She said as she tossed the water orb out into the rain where it exploded on impact.  
“Fair enough.” I said.  
“Hey, get me too.” Toby said.

She goes around, drying off everyone she meets. Save for Nicolo’s team, who is still soaked. I was expecting to meet more people like him here, but I guess not. He always goes on how I’m making him look bad, yet he’s the biggest asshole in a group who was fighting each other just a few minutes ago. Speaking of that.

“How did you win?” I said to Toby as we rejoined our group.  
“Those people who got you tried to get us again. But they found out I’m not so easy to grab. I went after them while Passeri used one of the broken banjo strings to stitch Scott’s headband back together.” Toby said.  
“Oh yeah, sorry about your banjo Passeri.” I said.  
“Eh, I assumed something like this would happen. I bought a cheap one for the contest. Besides, that thing sounded like crap anyway.” Passeri said with a smile.  
“So which of us won?” I said.  
“Me, Passeri, and Tamara. She managed to covertly steal a bunch of points with her blessing. We thankfully had the most out of any other school when time was up.” Toby said.  
“Nicolo didn’t win, hah. Serves him right.” I said.

A large screen on the inside of the dome flickered to life. The one who explained the game to us came on screen. They congratulated us on a great game. Though Satvius Academy won, they only won this round. The other teams from the schools will have to compete next. The second-year students are on their way here to begin their game. We will be brought back to our hotels where we are free to enjoy ourselves for the remainder of the time we are here. We will fly out tomorrow morning if everything goes as planned. They thank us once again and switch to a view of the four spectators watching the game. The three divine spectators remained in their seats. The Irreligious spectator stood up thanked us for the performance.

In the center of the dome is a metal hatch on the ground. It opened up to reveal an elevator. We stepped on and were brought to an underground passageway that lead us back to the entrance without having to deal with all the ruins and plants above. Normally this kind of thing wouldn’t bother me, but knowing that The Grey Elder was in front of me an hour ago…. Well the dimly lit corridors sort of put me on edge. I just hope that’s the last time I ever have to interact with it.


	10. The Panic Before The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marwha realizes a loose piece of evidence exposing her new abilities could mean her exposure to the cult.

It was right. I called the place where I could go get this Trojan removed through a public phone in case anyone was listening in on me. The place caught fire a day before I arrived here. No way could they help me with that building up in smoke. The Grey Elder said it did this. Surprisingly tame for what it regularly does, the fire barely spread beyond the building at all. But it burned enough to make the place useless.

The flight home composed of me trying to hide my sulking. I didn’t even pay attention to who won this contest. Though from the lack of overly enthusiastic cheering in my hotel room, I imagine we didn’t win. At least we managed to get back to the school at all.

A typhoon is on its way to the coast of Crocus. That explains the sudden rains and constant wind we’ve been having. The ports are all closing down, there are barely any ships in the harbor, and I saw people boarding up their windows on the bus ride back to the academy. This storm is supposed to hit in the next two or three days. 

Class has been cancelled for the next week. The school is certainly capable of withstanding this storm. After all, it’s managed to deal with worse in the past according to Achal. No one is evacuating yet, but the storm could easily get strong enough to warrant such an action.

I wish I could evacuate, get out of this town and hopefully find someone else who can get this thing out of my head. But I don’t have a car, Achal doesn’t have a car, and our family won’t be able to drive here in time with all the traffic going on. Besides, Achal is a firm believer that the safest place for us to be is in this school. I wish I could tell him how that doesn’t really apply to me.

I unlock the door to my dorm. I walk in and see that the room is empty, I guess Arno must be out somewhere. He’s probably with Kassadia. I flop down onto my bed. However, I hear a crinkling sound underneath my pillow.

I sit up and look under it, a note addressed to me. I open it up and I see it’s in Arno’s handwriting. There is only one sentence on the note. “I found the room you saw.”

The cathedral with the machine hidden inside it. He found it! I need to hide this note, I can’t let anyone see it. There is one place I hide things, a place not even Arno knows. I’ll have to put it there if I want to make sure it’s safe.

I open the closet, there is a thick padded jacket I brought with me from home for the colder months. Though it rarely gets cold enough to need it here from what I heard, but that’s not why I brought it. There is a seam behind the zipper, some of the padding is fake. I’ve hidden numerous personal items here in the past. I’m sure this is a perfect place to hide the note. At least until I feel another note.

I pull it out and open it. Arno wrote this one too. “Just burn it, I’ll talk to you when you get back.” Dammit! I thought for sure he didn’t know about this spot. Damn his blessing for being so good at spying on people. 

I tear it up and flush it down the toilet. I need a place we could meet up. Somewhere off-campus. The bar is likely closed down for the storm, so we can’t go there. As I’m on my bed thinking of a place, I hear the sound of something hitting the floor beside me. I turn to see another note. The door is open as well. The note just says “Beach” I guess we’re going there.

The beach is rather sparse with people today. With the storm so close, not many people are bothering to go out today. I’m sitting on a dune as the wind is thankfully blowing the sand in a direction that doesn’t get it in my eyes. I sit there and wait for that familiar voice to speak up out of nowhere.

“How was The Pugna?” Arno said after appearing out of nowhere beside me.  
“I couldn’t get the Trojan out of me. The place I would have gone to get it out caught fire before I even arrived in that city.” I said.  
“Well shit. While you were over there, I spent a ton of time sneaking around. I found that room you talked about.” Arno said.  
“The machine too?” I said.  
“I definitely saw what looked like a hidden lever. But the staff was getting suspicious so I didn’t risk opening it.” He said.  
“Okay, where is it?” I said.  
“The door to the staff only areas near the sparring arena. It’s a bit of a walk but that’s the fastest way there I could find.” Arno said.  
“Anything else?” I said.  
“I snuck into one of the deacon’s rooms. Her desk had a picture of all the deacons for some kind of staff photo or something. I took a picture with my phone, does anyone there have features you remember from the vision?” Arno said as he hands me his phone.

I'm looking at a picture of the deacons, but with their hoods off. I’ve never seen them all at once. The most I ever saw was when one talked at a school assembly on the first day and the one that visited me after I drowned. One of them sticks out to me. He’s an antelope or something similar, but he has pointed antlers that stick straight up. He was the one directing the cult in that vision. I hand the phone back to Arno and point him out.

“I think I saw him go into his room when I was snooping about. I’ll go check out his room as soon as I can.” Arno said.  
“Please. I just want all of this to be over.” I said. 

I blink and he’s gone. I don’t hear from him for the next day. I know Arno can remain in his unperceivable state effortlessly, he can even do it when asleep. I did have a morning once where I tripped over an invisible Arno who rolled out of bed. How he can fall off the top bunk and not wake up is a mystery to me. 

I try to distract myself however I can. Hanging out with Toby, walking through town or along the beach, and even going to Passeri and listening to his calming music. That’s what I’m doing right now. We’re both laying on the soft carpet staring at the ceiling. Passeri is plucking away at his banjo, those calming notes helping soothe my frazzled psyche.

As I’m lying there. I look over at Passeri’s banjo. This one looks ancient and brand new at the same time. Intricately designed and sounding much better than the cheap one he brought with him before. I can see why Passeri didn’t want that banjo getting damaged, thing looks like a family heirloom or something. Wouldn’t have wanted to see that get cut apart by that one person’s blessing. At least when it happened to Scott, he could easily repair it since it just cut the fabric of the headband. Who knew that one little cut made him unwillingly unleash those visions of monsters on us. I’m sort of glad I wasn’t around to deal with them, especially the one that looked like a cultists.

Just then, a terrible thought hits me. I sit up, Passeri asks if anything is wrong. I get to my feet and say I forgot something important, I thank him and leave the dorm. I pull out my phone, I added Scott’s number to it on the trip back. I send him a quick text.

“Can stuff like cameras and people far away see your illusions too?” I type.  
“Yeah, they can. Why do you ask?” Scott replies.  
“Settling a bet with Arno. Thanks.” I type before pocketing my phone.

SHIT! If one of the cultists watched the footage of my game. They could have seen that monstrous version of them! If they know Scott makes monsters based on people’s own memories, they would know one of us knows about them! Passeri and I are the only ones in that group with blessings that can gather information, I don’t know how Passeri’s blessing could evolve into precognition though. Which means they could deduce I’m the one who would know!

I can’t stay here anymore. I have to get out of this place. I need to just get out of this school and keep walking until I'm out of town. It’s not safe anymore. Hopefully it will take them long enough to figure out it’s me so I can get away from this town. 

I turn a corner to go to my dorm. If I can just grab a few things, I could make it out of town no problem. But as soon as I turn, I see Achal standing outside my door. And he does not look happy.

“Marwha, why did you hide this!?” Achal said.  
“Hide what?” I said as I stopped in my tracks.  
“I was just informed by one of the deacons. That meteorite they had you analyze tested positive for being a vessel for a Trojan! You’ve had a Trojan inside you this whole time and you didn’t tell anyone!?” Achal said.  
“Achal, please. You don’t know how bad this is for me.” I said.  
“No shit it’s bad! The deacon asked me to bring you to him so we can get that thing removed!” He said as he moves towards me.  
“No Achal, let me explain!” I said as I back away.  
“This explains everything, the drowning, the personality changes, and why you’ve been looking so restless!” Achal said as he stepped in front of Toby’s door.

The door opens and Achal is flung inside. I look inside and see him pinned to the ceiling, Toby is inside using his blessing to restrain him. Toby tells me to run, but my legs already started moving before he could finish saying it. No time to grab anything, I have to go. NOW!

I barge out of the school’s entrance and sprint into town. It’s getting dark out and the wind is picking up. The typhoon is supposed to reach us in mere hours. Every building in town I see is either boarded up or locked up tight. Nowhere I can duck into to hide. I run into an alleyway to catch my breath. My phone vibrates, I look at it and see a text from Arno.

“I found proof!” he said.  
“THEY FOUND OUT! SEND IT NOW!” is all I type before sending it.

I hear a pair of voices walking down the alley, I peek out and see two people holding cattle-prods. They’re walking around in the street, I recognize one as the ram from my vision. They’re not in their robes, but in casual clothes instead. I don’t recognize them, they must not work at the school.

“You sure she’s one we can use?” the ram said.  
“Lorraine said she saved her life by distracting her at just the right moment. Barely avoided getting a streetlight to her head, the higher ups have more evidence. But they’ve been suspicious for a while, I guess now they are acting.” A dingo said.  
“Well let’s find her then, I don’t want to get caught out in this storm.” The ram said.


	11. A Bad Idea In A Bad Situation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marwha tries to evade the cult and later has what could be the worst idea of her life.

Everywhere I turn I keep spotting people on the streets. No one in the right mind would be out here with the storm so close. I can’t always tell if it’s a cultist, but I can’t take any chances. I’ve been trying to stay hidden to the best of my ability. What I wouldn’t give to have Arno’s blessing right now. Then again, if I had his blessing I wouldn’t be in this mess to begin with.

The roads out of town go across farmland. Unfortunately none of the crops are the tall and easy to hide in kind. If I try to leave that way, I’ll get spotted and they’ll chase me down with a car or something. Boat or air travel is out of the question with this storm going on. I have no idea how to hotwire a car so I can’t get out by stealing a vehicle. Dammit, I think my only option is to hide and wait for the storm to pass and help to arrive. 

But everywhere is closed up. Even if I managed to get inside. I could only do it by shattering a window or prying off one of these boards. That will make my hiding spot kind of obvious. There is one place I can think of that I could sneak into. The shipyards.

I peek out of an alleyway and look at the huge warehouses where they build and repair the huge boats that are so commonplace here. That place has to have some kind of opening and the inside would be complex enough to hide in. That’s my best shot right now. I just hope it’s one that will work.

I run out into the street to cross it. Immediately the wind the buildings have been shielding me from hits me. It’s definitely stronger than it was when I first went outside. If I can just find somewhere safe to be when the typhoon hits. No one will go out looking for me in that weather. Then once the storm dies down, the other people in this town will start coming out and I can hopefully convince them to stop these creeps trying to kidnap me. 

I manage to cross the street without being spotted by anyone. The warehouse I need to get inside of is huge. Three of its four sides are on land. With one on the very edge of the docks and opening out to water so boats can drive straight inside. I try the front door, locked. I try one of the big garage doors not far from it, locked. I run around the perimeter of the building, no other entrance on the portion facing land. I run around to the front, maybe the side facing the ocean has a window or something I can open.

There is a walkway along the two massive doors facing the sea. But I notice the walkway has a gap in it at the middle. I cautiously walk towards it, the seawater misting from the wind and getting my clothes wet. When I get to the gap, I see what I had suspected. The door is open just ever so slightly. There are heavy metal beams deadbolting the door shut, but they allowed it just enough room to nudge open wide enough for me to squeeze inside. 

While trying not to think about the wind’s direction suddenly changing and making the door shut completely and crushing me, I squeeze through the gap just barely. I thankfully manage to step onto a walkway on the opposite side of the doors. Inside is a large ship that’s half-built sitting in the massive pit in the center. Around the rim of the pit is all manner of construction equipment left in organized piles. Likely abandoned by the workers here while they hid from the storm. I look around and see an office against one of the walls. Maybe I can get to a phone from there, call in some help. 

I pass by a collection of pipes on the ground. I see one about the size of a baseball bat with a large nut screwed onto one end. I hope I don’t need it, but this could protect me later. I grab it and continue on. 

I make it to the office and find it to be empty. I thought they would have someone stay here and make sure everything is okay. Unless whoever they had here is currently trying to hunt me down. I hope it’s not that one. 

There is a desk with a horrendous amount of paper scattered around on it. I manage to find a landline phone buried underneath it. I pick it up and hover my finger over the keypad. I try to remember the hotline for the Keeper’s of Providence. A sort of religious police that handle all matters monstrous, supernatural, and heretical. What’s going on here certainly counts as heresy. I type in the number and listen to the phone. 

Only, it doesn’t ring. The phone lines shouldn’t be cut. Only I listen a bit closer. And I hear a faint breathing. They’re monitoring the landlines too!

I slam the phone down and grab my pipe. I hear one of the doors I tried earlier get kicked open. I hide behind a wall near the doorway. I hear voices, a male and a female.

“I knew she was hiding in here. I told you I saw her!” the female voice said.  
“Keep it down. The call came from there, but she could have fled anywhere in here.” The male voice said.

I hear them, they’re stepping closer. Their footsteps echoing off the concrete floor of the massive building. I grip my pipe as tight as I can and hold it at the ready. I wait for the sounds and the shadows to get closer to the doorway. Once I think they’re close enough, I swing.

There is a yelp as the female is hit in the chest with the pipe. She stumbles back into the arms of the male who unwillingly catches her. I step out to see the female is in fact the lady I saved a few nights ago. I slip past the disoriented pair and sprint for the door, I need to get out of here now that they found me. But once I see the door, I notice several others outside approaching it.

I’m in a panic, I turn around and see a flight of stairs leading to some catwalks above. Maybe if I funnel them into a smaller space, I can fight them off. I sprint towards the stairs and begin climbing up, more of them get inside and shout at me to stop. Fuck no.

I’m turning to walk up the fourth flight of stairs when I suddenly feel something. Like I was just kicked in the back with a very small shoe. I drop my pipe and it falls off the stairs and down to the floor. I look down and see a white glowing spear of light going through my chest. It doesn’t hurt, nor do I find it hard to breathe despite it clearly going through my lungs. Then I feel a strong tug, I turn my head to see there is a thread of energy trailing from it to the hands of a cultist on the ground. The thread is going in-between the handrails, his tugs forcing me against them. I try to push it out of me, but this spear is stuck in tight. Like it was coated in superglue that hardened on impact. 

I panic, I can’t move and the cultists are climbing the stairs after me. I tap the spear with my hand, hoping my blessing will tell me something I can use to free myself. Written at the very top of the window is a message in rather large print. Followed by what I assume is the actual information about it.

“Can only be removed by the one who has this blessing. Will allow the capture of Marwha Shinsain in 10 seconds.”

The thread is tugged on hard, I’m forced into sitting against the railing as I try to move forward in any way I can. One of them climbs up the stairs towards me. I shout and kick at him, it’s all I really can do right now. He grabs my leg tightly as more walk up behind him. They each grab one of my limbs to hold me still. Someone walks up with their hand glowing. They tap me on the forehead and my vision goes black. I don’t dream, I don’t think, and I don’t move. 

I don’t know how long it was, but the world returns to me. Before I open my eyes, I hear something that stirs a deep fear in me. Singing from the choir I saw in my vision. My eyes shoot open to see what’s almost an exact recreation of my vision. Only now the windows are covered in heavy shutters to protect from the storm.

Two masked people have a firm grip on my arms, they are forcing me to walk towards the altar. Standing by the altar is another masked person with tall horns poking out from their hood. I struggle and try to stop myself from advancing towards the altar, but my captors are too strong.

“Young lady, why do you struggle? Do you not hear the songs we are singing for you? We are here to celebrate you, Marwha Shinsain! The answer to our problems!” the one at the altar said as I am brought before the steps leading up to it.

My heart is pounding, I’m looking around desperately for anything to help me escape. The masked guy by the altar goes to the wall behind it and pulls a hidden switch. The wall opens and a heavy door similar to a bank vault. The two restraining me begin forcing me up the stairs.

“You are one of the lucky few gifted with precognition! With your help, we can understand the Grand Design of our true creators better than anyone else!” he said as he pulls the door all the way open.

My heart skips a beat at what I see inside. A machine embedded inside a small room with a large polyhedron-looking helmet hanging from the ceiling by a tangle of wires. And secured inside the machine, is the skeletal remains of someone wearing a student uniform. I had hoped to never see it with my own eyes.

“We’ve gone a whole generation without a replacement for our last seer. But now the time has finally come! When the time is right, generations will remember your name as they will his. And when your time is up. You shall join him in our most sacred burial ground!” he said as he pulls the lifeless bones from the machine. “You shall be hailed as a saint! You will give us the vision we need to shape history in the right direction! So I implore you! Take your rightful place in the machine and lead us into an age of prosperity!”

I’m forced over to the machine. I’m sweating and my heart is pounding faster than I had ever felt before. The guy has trouble getting the machine open and asks for one of the ones restraining me to help. I’m handed to the other one, who holds my arms tight behind my back. But he’s too weak to hold me alone. I wrestle free of his grip and make a mad dash out of the room. I jump down the stairs to the altar and begin a sprint.

I know what to expect now. The leader is going to hit me with some kind of electrical blessing, I need to dodge it. I duck down and hear a crackling noise from the electricity. But I also hear a familiar voice cry out in pain. I turn around and see Arno standing behind me. He collapses onto the floor and one of the cultists asks who that is. He must have been using his blessing to sneak in here, accidentally taking that hit for me! 

I need to make the most of this. I can’t stop. It pains me to leave him there, but I couldn’t get out of that alone much less while carrying someone else! I’m sorry Arno, but I’ll never forget this.

I manage to sprint through a door. I know I’m in the academy, but this part of the place is totally foreign to me. I sprint down the hall as the cultists shout at me to stop. I see a heavy pair of double doors coming up. I run through them, stop to close them, and then grab a nearby table and jam it against the door. That won’t stop them, but it will buy me time. 

I look down the hall and notice that in the dimly lit hall with one wall lined with windows shuttered shut, there is one that is open. Upon closer inspection, I see the shutters were not lowered at all. Did this one get jammed or something? I look back at the doors as I see the wooden table begin to crack from the force on the other side. I turn to see the storm raging outside, the typhoon is certainly here in full force. I look down the other end of the hall, having no idea where this will lead me. 

I touch the glass. My blessing tells me that with the combined stress of the wind outside, I could easily shatter it. I see a large decorative clay vase along the wall behind me. I can’t believe I’m going to do this. But it would be a risk to keep going, only this way I have less chances of getting caught.

I hoist the vase over my head, it’s heavy but not too heavy. With all I have, I throw it at the window. It shatters, sending glass and rain blowing inside the hall. This is beyond stupid. But I’m doing it anyway. I carefully climb through the window, but the wind is too much and it forces me to lose my grip. 

Thank the gods I was only on the second story. I hit the ground with a thud, I really hope I didn’t break something. But I’m too hopped up on adrenaline to really pay attention to that right now. This side of the building is on the edge of a hill looking over the forest nearby. The wind pushes me around as I slide down. All I can hear is the wind blowing in my face. Bits of sand, dirt, and rain sting my exposed parts as I try to stand up. I have no idea where I’m going, but I know they won’t follow me into this storm. No sane person would.

I can barely see as I search around for some kind of shelter. A log I can crawl into, a cave, anything. I struggle with each step, trying not to lose my footing and be at the mercy of this wind. I have to get as far away from the academy as I can. Even though my body is aching for rest, I can’t risk stopping. 

Soon, I hear a cracking sound, like wood breaking apart. I look behind me to see a branch just barely hanging on. It blows off in mere seconds. The fresh wound on the tree allowing for the bark to be peeled off by the wind as well. A large piece flies off the tree and right towards me. 

It hits me square in the side of my head. My vision blurs and I hear a steady ring. The impact was painless, but the actual pain of it happens seconds later. I start feeling dizzy, I trip on a rock and fall to the ground. 

I try to get up. But my thoughts are scattered, I can barely focus. I’m just lying there on the ground, I slide up against a tree so I don’t get blown away. It starts getting hard to keep my eyes open. Eventually, everything just goes black.  



	12. Concussed Complications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marwha finds herself suffering from a bad concussion and at the mercy of others.

“An unplanned variable, but it shouldn’t divert the course…. Now to wait.” An almost ethereal voice said.

I open my eyes, all I see is darkness. I sit up and look around, I see a light in front of me. The voice I heard is mumbling, and coming from the same direction of the light. I stand up, I realize I feel different. I can’t feel my clothes or even the ground I’m standing on. It’s too dark to see what I look like as well. 

As I walk closer, I can see the source of the light is a strange ornate table with a model of the world embedded in it. The light is coming from a small glowing orb hovering just above it to the side. Gripping both sides of the table and leaning over it is a pitch-black silhouette with a single glowing eye that is moving like a spotlight on the world below. 

“Woah wait, where did he come from? Is this going to threaten it…. No…. but why is he doing that then? I haven’t been directing him.” The figure said.  
“Excuse me?” I said.

Another spotlight-eye forms on its head as the first one stays fixed on the globe that looks much more detailed than a regular one. The light from the orb allows me to look down at myself real quick. But for some odd reason, I don’t see anything. Yet I feel that my body is there.

“Woah! What the fuck are you doing here!?” the figure said.  
“Huh?” I said.  
“You shouldn’t be seeing this! Go on, shoo!” it said as the light from its new eye suddenly grew brighter than the sun.

My eyes open, I’m staring at a concrete ceiling and a rotating ceiling fan. I hear the sound of rain and wind outside. But I hear something else. A soothing melody from a banjo.

“Glad to see you’re not dead.” A familiar voice said.

I turn my head to see the lyrebird from the boardwalk. He’s sitting in a chair by the side of the bed I’m lying in. My body is aching all over, especially the side of my head. I try to sit up but he gently pushes me back down to bed.

“I wouldn’t get up. You’re in no condition to stand with that concussion.” He said.  
“Where am I?” I said weakly.  
“Storm shelter, well it’s more like a bunker. Point is it’s tough enough for us to ride out this storm. I found you out there with your head nearly busted open, brought you back here and fixed you up as much as I could.” He said.  
“I…. I can’t stay, I need to hide from them.” I said as I once again try to get out of bed to only be forced back down again.  
“Going out in this storm in your condition is suicide. Besides, no one knows about this place. I’m the only one to step foot in it for decades. Whoever you’re hiding from, you’ll be safe here.” He said as he continued playing.  
“Ooh, I don’t feel good. I don’t think I can get up like this.” I said.  
“Aside from the concussion, you’re also fatigued as hell. But your emotional state isn’t good either. I understand you’re terribly frightened of something.” He said.  
“Frightened and guilty.” I said.  
“Guilty of what?” He said.  
“My friend. He unknowingly took a hit for me and let me escape. But I had to leave him behind.” I said.  
“You had no other option. Sure the sacrifice was unplanned, but it was the only way you could have gotten away. I’m sure he doesn’t hold it against you.” He said.  
“Maybe…. But I…. oh gods, I feel like I’m going to pass out.” I said as I started feeling very lightheaded.  
“Rest up. I’ll bring you to a hospital once the weather clears up enough. Bandages, gauze, and painkillers can only do so much. After all.” He said.

I quickly fall back asleep. I don’t even dream, I just have scattered thoughts flying around in my mind. I eventually open my eyes and look at a clock on the wall. A whole hour has passed. He’s waking me up and tells me the worst of the storm has passed, he’s going to try and get me some help. 

He gently removes the blanket I’ve been laying under. I realize now that he must have removed my coat that had gotten soaked from the rain. At least he let me keep my pants. He picks me up and carries me out to a small car made for going off-road. He lays me down in the passenger seat that has been reclined as far back as it can go. He gets in the driver’s seat and starts the engine. 

I have no idea where we were. I don’t know how long I was passed out or how far I managed to go before getting hit. But then again, my thoughts are all over the place. It’s hard for me to focus on anything right now. 

We soon arrive at the hospital. He gets out and explains to a doctor what had happened. My head starts acting up again, everything just goes by in a blur. I hear them asking questions and saying things, but I barely process any of it. I have no idea how much time passes before I become lucid again.

I groggily open my eyes. I feel bandages wrapped tightly around the side of my head. I try to sit up but I’m too weak to do it and fall back into the bed. A doctor outside my room looks through a window and sees I'm awake. She walks in and smiles when I look at her.

“Are you awake enough to talk?” She said.  
“Yeah, I’m just aching a bit.” I said.  
“Well we just gave you some painkillers and something to give you a bit of energy so you can hopefully stop passing out. We’ve also been trying to find out who you were since you arrived. That guy had no idea what your name was and you didn’t have anything on you. No phone or ID or nothing. Please tell me you don’t have amnesia and can remember your own name.” she said.  
“Yeah, I know. I’m Mar….” I begin to say before I stop myself.  
“Mar-what?” She said.  
“I…. I can’t say.” I said.  
“What do you mean you can’t say? You just told me you knew!” She said.  
“There are people after me. If I go around telling people my name, they’ll find me!” I said.  
“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” She said.  
“Why do you think I was walking around out there during a typhoon!? I was trying to get away from them!” I said.  
“Well, is there someone we can call down here that you trust?” She said.  
“I know someone, Toby Flanding. He’s a student at Satvius.” I said.  
“Okay. And what should we tell him to ease your suspicion?” She said.  
“Just say you have a patient over here and his blessing could be vital to saving their life.” I said.  
“We don’t really do that. But okay. I’ll go contact the academy, a nurse will be by soon to do a checkup on your injuries.” She said before walking out of the room.

I look around my hospital room. It has two beds, but the other one is vacant. Beside me is a small table and one of those bedside trays for putting food on. I realize that I’m rather hungry. It’s eight PM and I didn’t have very much of a lunch. But at the same time, food doesn’t feel very good right now. I don’t know if it’s the concussion or anxiety from being hunted by a cult, but I’m feeling nauseous right now.

Someone in hospital scrubs walks in. This must be my nurse. He walks up and takes a look at the chart at the end of the bed. He looks towards the shut door and readies a syringe full of…. something.

“What’s that?” I said.  
“A special chemical that will leave you in a vegetative state that I will give you if you do not cooperate.” He said coldly.

Oh gods no. He’s with them! How did they find me here already!? Did they just happen to have someone here who noticed when I came in?

“Call for help in any way, and I’ll inject you. We need you alive, but not conscious can work too.” He said.  
“Dammit! What do you want?” I said.  
“You can only change the future if you know the future. You will help us know the future so we can change it to suit our desires.” He said.  
“I don’t even have actual precognition! It’s a power given to me by a Trojan I got infected with!” I said.  
“It makes no difference. The only reason I haven’t stuck you with this syringe by now is because the process works better with a willing and active mind. So I’m offering you a chance to join us and help make a better future for us.” He said.  
“Piss off.” I said.  
“We tried to let you into our group. Just as we did with all the others, but we can’t let you ruin this chance.” He said. 

Suddenly, his phone rings. Without taking his eyes off me, he grabs his phone with his free hand and answers it. His eyes go wide and I just barely see his hand gripping the syringe loosen. Either these painkillers are making me more courageous, or this concussion is making me act weird. But I’m not sure why I decide to do this.

I quickly grab the needle and manage to snap it off before he can react. I stab the needle into his side and practically leap out of my bed. Dear gods those are some good drugs they gave me. I feel like I could run a marathon! I run over to the door and practically knock it down.

I come to my senses, I’m back in my room. The doctor lady from earlier nods to me and walks out of the room. That’s the first vision I’ve had since the Trojan got attacked by The Grey Elder. Shit, it must have healed enough to be back. But right now, I need to worry about that nurse on his way here.

I summon every ounce of strength I have to stand up. Those drugs haven’t kicked in yet, I need to make do with what I have. I should get about ten minutes before he shows up. I need to do something! Maybe if I hide.

I open my door and see the room across from me is open. I slowly walk inside, thankfully its only occupant seems to be out cold. I notice on his bedside tray is a plate of half eaten food, and a large steak knife. I'm sure they won’t mind if I borrow it. I hide around a corner inside the room with the knife ready.

I hear someone open my door. I peek out to see the nurse walk inside. He looks around for me, he checks inside the bathroom and under the beds. I hear him swear under his breath. I duck back around the corner, no doubt he is going to try and find out where I went. 

The drugs haven’t kicked in yet, I can’t run away from him yet. It’s taking almost everything I have to stay standing up like this. Hopefully I can stick him somewhere good with this knife to buy me some time. He must be guessing where I went, no doubt he’ll look in this room. 

I hear footsteps slowly approach the room I’m in. I try to time it right, just like in the warehouse. With the knife in my hand, I reach out and stab around the corner. I drive the knife into his arm, he cries out in pain and drops the syringe which shatters on the floor. I feel my energy returning to me, I shove him against the wall and run out into the hall. 

I quickly take the first turn I see, hopefully he doesn’t figure out where I ran. I dodge and weave through the various doctors and patients wandering about. I spot an exit and charge through the door. But just outside I see several other people standing by a van. They see me and shout “That’s her!” shit, he must have called for more cultists when I was admitted here.

I run to the opposite side of where they were parked. I get close to a fence around the hospital. I scramble up the side to climb over and hopefully escape. But that doesn’t happen because someone grabs my tail.

I’m yanked to the ground and held down by several people. They each hold one of my limbs in place as they try to carry me to the van. Dammit, I can’t get out of this! They’ll get me for sure this time!

*BOOM*

Everyone flinches simultaneously at the sound. I turn around to see a group of people in body armor, one is a frilled lizard holding a smoking shotgun. The others are holding guns as well, all pointed in our direction. The Keepers Of Providence, they finally made it.

“Step away from the girl! You have five seconds to comply or we will shoot!” the one holding the shotgun said as she pumped it and pointed towards us.  
“You fools! Don’t you understand how much good she can….” One of the cultists said before an officer fired a pistol and painted his brains against the side of the van.  
“STEP AWAY AND RELEASE THE GIRL!” she shouted again.

They slowly release their grip on me. Once I’m totally free, some of the officers open fire with stun guns. Suddenly my vision is filled with wires and crackling electricity followed by the cultists collapsing onto the ground. The one with the shotgun tells me to come to her. She asks if I’m Marwha Shinsain, I say yes.

Ten minutes later, I’m back in my hospital room. The cultists and the nurse have been arrested. In the room with me is the frilled lizard lady with her gun at the ready in case any other cultists try something. She’s sitting in a chair beside my bed. She is asking me what I knew about the cult and who they were. For the first time in a while, I feel safe.

“I just got a call from another officer. The group hiding out at the academy is in custody, those that surrendered anyway. They located the machine described in your message.” She said.  
“What even is that horrible thing?” I said.  
“Some blessings can be analyzed with a special machine and retrieve data from it. That thing was one such machine, but it was an older model. Those things weren’t made for constant use, it would take a few months before it would kill you.” She said.  
“Did they find my friend?” I said.  
“Hold on…. What a coincidence. They just reported they found a hybrid student who was being held hostage. According to them, he has no serious injuries.” She said.  
“Oh that is a load off my mind.” I said as I lean back into the bed.  
“I hope you didn’t have much planned for this semester. We’ll need to do a full investigation of the academy. Not to mention who knows how much of the staff we just arrested or killed.” She said.  
“So the school is getting shut down?” I said.  
“Probably for the semester only. Though who knows how this will affect the school’s PR.” She said.

I hear a knock on the door. A K.o.P. officer opens the door and I see Toby and Achal. They both look relieved, but Achal has a look of guilt in his eyes. He walks up to me and hugs me tight.

“Marwha, I’m so sorry! Toby told me everything after you ran away. I had no idea I was endangering your life like that! Please forgive me!” Achal said while trying to hold in tears.  
“Achal…. I know you had no idea. I wish I could have told you, but I had no idea what you would have done.” I said.  
“I…. I’m so sorry. I was so worried. I can’t believe I let this happen.” He said as he released me from his embrace.  
“This wasn’t your fault.” Toby said as he put a hand on his shoulder.  
“So…. Did you hear about the school?” I said.  
“Yeah. Mom and Dad sent Lauma to come get us tomorrow once the storm passes over the highway.” Achal said.  
“It will be nice to go home.” I said.  
“There is another matter we need to address. The Trojan that infected you.” The officer said.  
“Oh yeah. I assume the one in town who can remove was arrested?” I said.  
“Shot three times when they tried to assault an officer. We brought in someone who is trained in removing them.” She said.  
“Good. Because I see it standing right over there.” I said as I point to a corner of the room where the disturbing beast stands.  
“You will not get off that easily.” It said.  



	13. Exorcisms, Catharsis, and Bribes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth about the ordeal Marwha has gone through comes to light.

That evening, I wasn’t discharged from the hospital yet. The Trojan was too dangerous to keep in my head. So once I was stable enough. The Keepers Of Providence escorted me to the place where I can get my Trojan removed. 

I’m unfamiliar with the process itself. I looked into it when trying to get this thing out yeah, but the whole thing is performed by someone else. It’s like getting a surgery, I don’t really have to do anything and just leave it to the professional. Who in this case is waiting for me in place of the normal one.

The building itself is decently sized. It is made to handle all sorts of similar atypical ailments. Curses and possessions and stuff like that. I may be going into medicine in the future, but this practice is something else entirely. Like the difference between a normal doctor and a dentist. I walk inside and see a dingo in robes with the logo for the K.o.P. on them. 

“Aahh good. You’ve made it in one piece and relatively sane from what I hear.” He said as I approach with the lizard officer behind me.  
“Hey, can we skip the introductions? This thing is very pissed off at this whole thing and I really don’t want to see what it will try to do.” I said.  
“Right right. I understand. I have the report our mutual officer friend here made on your condition. I have prepared the proper receptacle for you so we may purge this evil spirit from your mind.” He said as he led me over to an almost egg-shaped thing with a door on the side.  
“What is that?” I said.  
“A sensory deprivation tank with traces of blessed saffron mixed into the water inside. Any of the tree divine herbs will work, but since we are in Grand Design territory, we will use saffron.” He said.  
“And what do I need to do?” I said.  
“Strip down and get inside. Clear your mind and let it become entirely unobstructed by any sensation. This will make the Trojan’s actions much more visible. I will be able to remove it as well as anything it put inside you.” He said.  
“Can I at least keep my underwear?” I said.  
“Go ahead. Now please, get inside so we may begin.” He said as he opened the tank.

I nervously strip down to my underwear and climb inside. I lay down in the water and gently float inside it. The lights inside the tank gradually dim until it is pitch black. I can’t hear anything but my own breathing as long as I stay still. 

This is…. Very strange. My mind wanders all over the place. Recalling events from this whole ordeal and predicting how this will affect the future. My friendships with Toby, Achal, and Arno. My fears, my doubts, my hopes, my desires, and myself. Is this really how I’m going to spend the rest of my time at this school? Pretending to loathe someone who I actually wouldn’t mind dating under other circumstances? Will we even be able to have a normal relationship if we get out of this? We spent so much time pretending to hate each other to spite this system we are caught up in. Will anything we do after up to four years of that even leave us with any tolerance for each other? I don’t want to be part of this system, I don’t want my lovelife to be chosen for me. 

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!” a shrill voice said.  
“Huh?” I think, not daring to speak and break the concentration.  
“You are trying to purge me! I was sent here to create havoc! I won’t let my mission fail because I ended up getting stuck with some bitch who won’t let me do my job!” it said, and the voice was rather close to me.  
“What are you going to do?” I say before I feel a sharp object pressing against my abdomen.   
“I’ll cut you open! Spill your guts inside this tank. It will look like someone from the Keepers was trying to cover up the cult’s mistakes. That will cause plenty of strife in the world!” It said.

Then, I heard it scream. The sharp claw was pulled away and I suddenly felt a bit calmer in my mind. Like having a question one has been desperately trying to find the answer to and finally getting it. I hear someone knock on the side of the tank and say it is safe to come out. I open my eyes and open the hatch. I see the dingo holding a flat stone with a strange symbol on it.

“There we go! I have sealed it inside this blessed rune. I shall take it to a proper facility where it can be disposed of properly.” He said.  
“So. It’s gone?” I said.  
“Yes. The Trojan and the precognition powers it bestowed upon you are gone.” He said.  
“Oh thank the gods. Maybe now I can finally get some proper sleep.” I said as I climb out.

After getting dressed I walk back to the car the officer drove me here in. Waiting for me outside the building I see Arno standing there with Toby. Arno doesn’t look hurt at all, thank goodness. He seems relieved to see me. Toby asks if the Trojan is gone, I say it is and he lets out a sigh of relief.

“So it’s all done. The cult’s gone and so is the Trojan.” Arno said.  
“Yeah…. Arno, I’m sorry I had to leave you behind how I did when you took that shock for me.” I said.  
“No, I understand why you did it. You were in more danger than I was. Though the whole getting shocked for you thing was purely an accident.” Arno said while clearly not liking having to remember the incident even if it was just yesterday.  
“Did they do anything to you?” I said.  
“Not really. They assumed they could use me to bargain with you to give yourself up. I was tied up and kept under guard but that was it.” Arno said.  
“That is good to hear. So I guess I’m going back to the hospital?” I said.  
“Doctors need to do a bit more work on your head. We really only got you out of there cause a Trojan is much worse than a concussion. You should be out by morning though.” The officer said.  
“Fine by me.” I said.

I arrived back at Satvius Academy around 10 AM the next day. And the school seemed entirely different in atmosphere. In fact, the entire city seemed different too. The aftermath of the typhoon and the incident at the school leaving a lot of people in custody and some dead. Everything seemed off.

As far as the public knew. A private group with some members affiliated with the academy were committing a rank 6 heresy that involved the kidnapping that would lead to the eventual death of the student involved. Members of the cult and who the student was has been kept confidential for now. But that only did so much. It wouldn’t be hard for the people the cult members interacted with to notice they weren’t around anymore. I’m supposed to tell people I got caught out in the storm to explain my injuries, which is admittedly true.

I walk into the lobby of the dorm building. It is packed with students all sitting about, waiting for their ride home to arrive. All students are to head home for the remainder of the semester, we all need to leave by the end of the week. Achal and I have our ride home arriving in a few hours, so I need to go up to my room and get packed.

“Hey, if it isn’t Ms. Reputation Wrecker!” a familiar and annoying voice said from behind me.  
“Nicolo, I am not in the mood for your shit.” I said as I turned around and glared at the eagle standing only a few feet away.  
“Well neither am I! You have any idea what this stunt you pulled is going to do to the school?” He said.  
“What stunt?” I said.  
“Don’t play dumb with me! I know you were the one involved in that cult!” Nicolo said at a volume loud enough to draw the gaze of everyone in the room.  
“How could you possibly know who was involved in that?” I said, trying to feign ignorance.  
“I heard about you getting infected with a Trojan and the staff looking for you. Sounds an awful lot like their way of covering up your kidnapping!” he said as he has no doubt drawn the ear of everyone in the room.  
“And how does this affect you enough to justify harassing me?” I said.  
“First you make our class look bad with your constant fighting with Arno. Now you go and make the whole school look bad as well! Thanks to you, a degree from here will probably be worth as much from a community college!” Nicolo said.  
“I told you, I do not want to deal with your shit right now. I suggest you stop so you can go see what Lalia is trying to tell you.” I said as I point to a hall behind him.

Nicolo turns around to see Lalia, but she isn’t there. Beside me is a small decorative table with a metal candlestick on it. By the time Nicolo turns around to berate me for lying to him. I have the candlestick firmly in my grasp and bash it into the side of his head.

Nicolo stumbles from the blow. His blessing has a certain drawback to it. His ability to enhance an aspect of his body at all times requires to be in use at all times. When not using it for something else, his default state is to make his bones incredibly hard. I’ve seen him get hit by a car and come out with only scratches from hitting the pavement. But while his bones may be hard, that doesn’t mean the hits won’t affect him.

I swing the candlestick again into his gut, he falls to the floor. Unable to react from the surprise hit to the head. I repeatedly smash the candlestick into him. Each hit making a satisfying sound.

“YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! THREE TIMES! THREE TIMES IN THE PAST MONTH I’VE HAD MY LIFE IN DANGER! I EVEN NEARLY DIED! AND ALL YOU CAN FUCKING THINK ABOUT IS YOUR REPUTATION!? WOULD IT KILL YOU TO SHOW EVEN A MICROSCOPIC AMOUNT OF SYMPATHY!? EVEN IF IT IS JUST LEAVING ME THE FUCK ALONE FOR ONCE!” I shout as I bash him, letting out a lot of repressed anger. 

I soon stop. I’m out of breath, and the other students are looking at me horrified. Nicolo is curled up on the ground, covered in bruises and small cuts. I throw the candlestick down at him and walk away. I don’t hear another word out of him.

I’m in my dorm, packing my things. Arno is doing the same thing. Toby is packing his things too. We live very close to each other, so he will ride back with me and Achal. Arno lives much farther away, he has a train he will take home. We’ll try to stay in touch over the break.

I hear a knock on the door. I open it and to my surprise I see the four remaining deacons of the academy standing outside my door. They ask if they could come in. I let them inside and they remove their hoods. A sabre-toothed tiger, a gecko, a mountain goat, and a buzzard. 

“What’s this about?” I said.  
“Marwha, I’m sure you can understand how this whole fiasco can leave us in an awkward situation. So the four of us came together to make you a deal.” The gecko said.  
“For what?” I said.  
“Basically we want to see if we can do anything to convince you not to sue us.” The mountain goat said.  
“Really?” I said.  
“Anything within our power. It is going to be hell enough to deal with the fallout of our former deacon’s cult. We just want to try and stop it from getting worse.” The tiger said.  
“Fine then. I want one thing. Break off the marriage between me and Arno, and mark us as incompatible for anyone like you did with Toby.” I said.  
“Well…. That’s a bit of a tough one.” The buzzard said.  
“Why?” I said.  
“You see. We aren’t the ones who make and enforce that practice. That comes from higher up. No idea how high to be honest.” The buzzard said.  
“We mostly just send them the data on the students and they decide how they are grouped up. We can certainly try to convince them to break it off, but we can’t make any promises.” The gecko said.  
“Try to make it happen and we’ll call it even.” I said as I extend my hand for a shake.  
“We’ll do our best.” The tiger said as he shakes my hand.

They don their hoods and walk out. I’m not happy they weren’t able to resolve this marriage debacle right away. But now there is hope for me and Arno yet. I turn around and smile at Arno. He smiles back. Let’s just hope the deacons can deliver.

Later that day, we’re waiting out by the boardwalk for our ride to get here. I didn’t exactly have anything to eat yet today, so I got something greasy and filling from one of the stores on the boardwalk. Achal and Toby are sitting on a bench while I finish eating. We’re waiting over here because it’s crowded as hell outside the school, also I wanted to come here for a personal reason. The lyrebird who rescued me from the storm.

I’d ask Passeri where he was, but I saw him step into a car with someone and drive off just as I left my dorm building. I never got his phone number or anything. But the one who picked Passeri up in the car wasn’t him either. Maybe he happens to live around here. That storm shelter certainly seemed pretty lived in. I’d go straight there, but I have no idea where it is. I was barely conscious for that whole ordeal.

I had hoped to find him playing here, but there is no sign of him. I’m walking around the sculpture trying to find him. His usual spot is vacant. I want to find him so I can thank him in person. I wouldn’t be alive without him, I owe him thanks at the very least. I lean on the railing and look over the ocean covered by a grey sky. I guess it will have to wait until I get back…. 

But then, I feel something tap my foot. I look down and see a cell phone, one of those disposable kinds. It begins to ring, I pick it up. I look around, no one possibly could have dropped it. I open it up and hold it to my ear.

“Hello?” I said.  
“You played your part well.” The voice of The Grey Elder said.

I freeze up. It followed me all the way back here? But it’s congratulating me too. There was no horrible disaster at all! At most this will inconvenience the school and only five people died, but all were members of the cult. 

“You’re wondering why I’m thanking you.” It said.  
“Y….yes?” I said.  
“I had a goal. You were instrumental in helping me accomplish that goal. You did a great job.” It said.  
“What goal?” I said.  
“Destroying that cult. Thanks to you, they were exposed and destroyed.” It said.  
“But…. That’s not what you do.” I said.  
“Contrary to what most mortals teach. I do not seek to only cause disaster. I am a being of evil, yes. But I seek to maintain a certain level of evil in the world. So the world can keep changing. When it is too low, I cause havoc. When it is too high, I bring it down to proper levels. You see?” it said.  
“Wait…. So you sent that Trojan here? Only gods can command monsters like that.” I said.  
“Who do you think told me to do this? The Grand Designer knew someone was messing with their plan. They needed me to resolve it.” It said.  
“But…. Why me?” I said.  
“Of all the students in that academy. You had the highest chance of coming out alive. According to The Grand Designer anyway.” it said.  
“So…. Am I done?” I said.  
“Yes. Hopefully we will never meet again. For your sake, I suggest never speaking of our interactions. Goodbye. And drop this phone over the railing.” It said.

I’m freaked the fuck out at what I just heard. But nevertheless, I end the call and drop it into the water. Only a horrible-looking hand extends from beneath the boardwalk and catches it before pulling it back under. I hear the sound of water splashing as I see the dark silhouette of a long serpentine creature swim out from under the boardwalk and into the ocean.

I quickly walk back over to Achal and Toby. I try to calm myself down so they don’t notice anything off. Then again I could just blame it on my recent life threatening experiences. Achal tells me to hurry up as I see a sedan drive up on the street.

The car is parked and out steps Lauma, my older sister. Granted she isn’t a blood relative, but my parents adopted her when I was very young so she’s always been my big sister. The wolverine in a hoodie immediately runs up to me and hugs me. Achal has told me our family has been worried sick about me. Lauma is a full head taller than me so this hug feels like the one I got from that mastiff a few days ago. Toby grabs my bags and begins loading them into the trunk.

“Marwha! I can’t believe you had to go through that!” She said.  
“It was a shit experience for sure. But I’m alive now, that’s all I'm trying to focus on.” I said.  
“Are you sure? You seem kind of off. Need anything?” She said as she stopped hugging me to get a good look at my bandages.  
“Could be the pain meds I’m on. But please, I’d just like to go home.” I said.  
“That’s why I'm here. If you need me to do anything on the trip, just let me know.” She said.

We get our stuff loaded into the trunk. I sit in the back with Toby while Achal and Lauma sit up front. Lauma begins the drive back home. I look out the window as Satvius academy and the town of Crocus slowly vanish into the distance. I’ll be back in a month. But for now, I’ll enjoy this respite from the crap I deal with there. I get a text from Arno, he had just boarded his train. I’ll be seeing him again too. 

I look at my reflection in the mirror. This young fossa girl with half her head bandaged up and looking like I haven’t gone a week without sleep. Hopefully I look better when I get back. Hopefully the school will be better too….

End.


End file.
